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FC COPA to College to National Champion

Alessia Codella, Fr Forward Johns Hopkins WSOC








Alessia Codella - Alumna ‘22: NCAA Champion


Alessia Codella, FC Copa Academy graduate from the class of 2022, was part of the Johns Hopkins women's soccer team that recently won the D-III National Championship beating Case Western Reserve, 2-1, in the national final!



Alessia is a great role model for our academy players as she has always been focused on being the best she can be - both on and off the soccer field.

Alessia began her soccer career at FC Copa at age 10 and finished her time as a youth player last spring as an integral part of our very successful 2003/04 team which won their league, went undefeated at Jefferson Cup and finished as NJYS State Cup finalist.

Unfortunately, in the late spring of 2022 Alessia suffered a torn ACL. Even with this injury and inability to be on the field, she had a great impact on her Johns Hopkins teammates and continued to be an important influence with the team as they made it through the NCAA tournament. With her injury sidelining her, Alessia nonetheless concentrated on being a good teammate and still having an important role on the team throughout their season.

Being an integral part of the team, Alessia led efforts to encourage her team on to the final four and then ultimately the final. She was a constant support for her teammates throughout the season and during the championship run.



In addition to being a great role model for our younger academy players by demonstrating such a positive attitude while dealing with her injury, Alessia also provides some great lessons in choosing the right college soccer program.


Alessia's journey to be a Blue Jay was driven mostly by academics as she sought a top pre-med program that also had a quality women's soccer program. While Johns Hopkins has a premier, nationally renowned pre-med program, when Alessia attended the JHU women's ID soccer clinic in the summer of her junior year she was greatly impressed with the team's culture and exclaimed it was “special” the way the players interacted. This comradery was rare to her compared to visits to other universities and she committed just two weeks later.




Alessia also provides some great advice for young players on how to navigate a rigorous college curriculum while playing soccer with the following insight, "Transitioning from high school to a top medical program can be a bit difficult at times adjusting. Being a student athlete, it’s going to take up a lot of time, and you don’t know how much time it takes until you’re in it. However, when you’re doing it with a team which you love, it is all very fulfilling and worthwhile.”

We are all very proud of Alessia and it has been our pleasure to watch her grow into the impressive young woman she is. Even through adversity, her positivity and fight continues to reinforce the inspiration she is to our academy and she is a great role model for our athletes to look to!” said Lori Berman, VP of FC Copa Academy.



It should be noted that Alessia is pre-med majoring in Molecular and Cellular Biology with a minor in Psychology - and she is rehabbing her knee while looking forward to contributing on the field next year for the defending D-III National Champions Johns Hopkins Blue Jays.

We are very proud and wish you all the best, Alessia!




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