The Dallas Texans moved into first place for the first time in Soccer America's Top 20 ranking of the best girls youth clubs.

By Paul Kennedy

1
DALLAS TEXANS. The Texans girls move up to No. 1, while the Texans boys are now No. 2. The girls had four teams advance as far as the Region IV finals, and the U-19s and U-15s reached the U.S. Youth Soccer National Championships. The Texans look to be again strong in 2006. The Texans U-17s and U-18s won Showcase divisions at the beginning of the year at Disney's Soccer Showcase. Rising Star: High school sophomore Melissa Henderson, one of five Texans invited into January's U-17 girls national team camp.

2
PDA. The New Jersey club swept the U-17 to U-15 divisions at the Region I finals, and the U-17s and U-16s, both repeat national finalists, came within one game of coming home with a national championship from the U.S. Youth Soccer finals. Rising Star: Gabriella Guzman, who scored both goals for the PDA Fire in its 2-1 victory over FC Delco in the Region I U-13 girls final.

3
ECLIPSE SELECT. The Illinois club has won back-to-back U.S. Youth Soccer national championships, capturing the 2004 U-16 and 2005 U-17 titles. Two other Eclipse teams reached the 2005 Region II finals. It has had 18 '06 college graduates sign on with Division I college programs. Rising Star: Sophomore midfielder Julie Ewing was one of three Eclipse players named to the 2005 NSCAA/adidas Girls All-American Team.

4
MICHIGAN HAWKS. One of Eclipse Select losses at the Region II finals was to the Hawks in the U-16 division. In 2004, the same team was one of three Hawks teams to win regional titles. Rising Star: U.S. U-15 midfielder Victoria Bailey, U-14 MVP at last fall's State Cup, where the Hawks took home three titles.

5

SERENO SC. Sereno became the first Arizona club to win a U.S. Youth Soccer national girls championship when it captured the '03 U-17 crown. Last year, Sereno produced two U.S. Club Soccer regional champions but no U.S. Youth Soccer regional champions. Rising Star: Sophomore defender Kassandra McCluskie, the only Arizonan picked for Region IV %9190s' spring tour of Italy.

6
SLAMMERS. The Newport Beach, Calif., club won the U-16 U.S. Youth Soccer and U-15 U.S. Club Soccer girls titles in 2005, giving them six national titles over the last four years. The U-16s' title came two years after winning the U-14 title. Rising Star: Mariah Nogueira, selected for the U.S. U-15 girls national team camp in January.

7
SAN DIEGO SURF. The Surf -- host to the Surf Cup and Surf Girls Cup, two of the most important girls tournaments in the country -- is a perennial Far West power. It's sent girls teams to the U.S. National Championships in each of the last six years and brought home titles in 2000, 2002 and 2003. Rising Star: Michelle Spacciapolli, one of the stars of the Surf's '05 U-15 Region IV championship team.

8
BETHESDA SC. Bethesda and No. 2 PDA are the only clubs to send teams to the Region I finals in each of the last three years. Bethesda alums Meagan Holmes and Amanda Poach had big freshman years in college and played for the champion USA in the recent CONCACAF Under-20 Qualifying Tournament. Rising Star: Caroline Miller, a U.S. U-15 forward, was one of the top prep players in the Washington, D.C., area as a freshman last fall.

9
CARMEL UNITED. The club from the Indianapolis suburbs is a national girls powerhouse. The U-19 Commotion was one of the great youth soccer stories of 2005. It battled back from a van crash that injured players seriously in 2004 to return to the U.S. Youth National Championships for the second time in three years. Carmel's Lauren Cheney is the only high school player on the senior women's national team. Rising Star: Junior Hannah Messick, one of the top goalie prospects in Region II.

10
MUSTANG SOCCER. Former U.S. World Cup defender John Doyle serves as director of coaching for Mustang, one of the top clubs in the soccer-rich San Francisco suburbs. Mustang, the 2004 U.S. Youth Soccer U-15 champion, has already had seven seniors commit to NCAA Division I schools. Rising Star: Jennifer Laponte, a high school sophomore who trained with the U.S. U-15s in 2005.

11
PEACHTREE YSA. The Georgia club won its first national title in 2003 when the Lazers were crowned U.S. Youth Soccer U-19 champions. The current U-18 team, led by U.S. U-20 national team star Kelly O'Hara, has had 15 players commit to four-year colleges. Rising Star: Michelle Olivier represented the U.S. U-16s in Japan last year.

12
LAGUNA HILLS ECLIPSE. Three years after its U-15 national title, the Southern California club returned home in 2005 with the U.S. Youth Soccer U-18 trophy. Eclipse product Amy Rodriguez was called up to the senior national team after excelling for the U-20s in CONCACAF qualifying. Rising Star: High school sophomore Renae Cuellar, a member of the Region IV '90 player pool.

13
SO CAL BLUES. The Blues, one of three 2005 U.S. Youth Soccer national champions from Southern California, has a long tradition of producing players. The Blues' Tad Bobak has been one of the most influential figures in California youth soccer for 30 years. Rising Star: Lauren Matheson: winner of last year's adidas Golden Boot at the 2005 U.S. Youth Soccer U-14 finals.

14
SO CAL UNITED. So Cal United is the only club to win U.S. Youth Soccer titles in each of the last three years: boys U-16 (2003) and U-18 (2005) and girls U-17 (2004). United has had 13 girls commit for Division I programs for next fall. Rising Star: Michelle Cruz, eighth-grader whose goals gave United U-13 title at San Diego Surf Girls Cup XI.

15
STING SC. Winner of the first girls national title ever crowned, in 1980, and seven U.S. Youth Soccer titles overall, the Sting remains a force in Dallas girls soccer. The U-18 Sting beat the Dallas Texans in a shootout in an all-Dallas final at the 2005 Region III championships. Rising Star: Kim Castleberry, a freshman on the Sting Royal '90 team, was picked to attend 2005 U-14 national identification camp.

16
TSC CHALLENGE. Last year marked the fifth straight year that the Challenge sent at least one team to the Region III finals. The Challenge, which has had 25 seniors make college commitments, merged last year with the Texans, a longtime national boys power, to form Houston mega-club Texas Soccer Club. Rising Star: Ninth-grader Ryan Smith represented Region III at '91 Interregional camp over Thanksgiving.

17
GREENSBORO TWISTERS. For the second time in three years, the Twisters, part of the Greensboro Youth Soccer program, produced a Region III champion. The %9188 Twisters Green produced a pair of NSCAA/adidas Youth All-Americans: Maria Lubrano and Katherine Lutz. Rising Star: Junior Rachael Handy, a member of the '88 Twisters Green championship team and an acclaimed actress in 11 independent films.

18
ST. LOUIS SC. The former Busch club started out as a boys program, but it is now a national contender each year in both boys and girls soccer. It won its first U.S. Youth Soccer girls title last summer when it captured the U-15 division. Rising Star: Blake Miller, winner of the adidas Golden Boot at last summer's U-15 nationals.

19
EDMOND SC. The success of the Oklahoma club's teams at the U-14 level has propelled it into the Top 20 for the first time. In both 2004 and 2005, Edmond has finished second in the U-14 division at U.S. Youth Soccer's nationals. Rising Star: Freshman midfielder Dria Hampton attended the U.S. U-16 national team camp in January.

20
PLEASANTON RAGE. Another of the Northern California powerhouses, the Rage won U.S. Youth Soccer titles in 2002 and 2004. In 2005, Rage teams were U-17 and U-18 state champions and U-14 state runners-up. Rising Star: Kendra Perry, picked for the U.S. U-17 national team in January.