Westminster Christian’s AnnaLi Weekley started her soccer journey as small child watching her older sister, MaiLin, kick the ball around.

Weekley – along with her older sister and her brother, Adrian – were adopted by their parents, Chris and Shawna Weekley, from China. After realizing they were unable to have biological children and after much prayer and research, the Weekleys made three different trips to China in the adoption process.

Chris and Shawna came to realize that adoption was always part of God’s plan for their family.

“Adoption was not God’s ‘Plan B’ for us, but was His ‘Plan A,’” Shawa Weekley said. “After we realized that, it was even more clear that God was telling us this is not ‘My second best for you.’ This is ‘My absolute best for you.’”

AnnaLi, two-time Class 4A State Tournament MVP, scored her first goal for Westminster when she was only in the seventh grade in a tournament match against American Christian. She now holds the school record with 148 career goals and ranks 12th all-time in the Alabama High School Athletic Association. She is also eighth all-time in assists with 70.

She led the Wildcats to back-to-back state championships and was one of the nominees for the High School Female Athlete of the Year in the Rocket City Awards. Weekley was also named to the Coaches’ Super All-State second team and 4A All-State first team along with teammate Jasmine Feld. Weekley was also named the North All-Star team last season and competed in the North-South All Star game.

Weekley’s road was not always a smooth one, having injured both knees during her sophomore season. Through much hard work and determination, she made a full recovery to lead the Wildcat’s to their two state championships.

Westminster head coach Hunter Chapman has been a fan of Weekley from Day 1.

“AnnaLi is a coach’s dream and is such an absolute game changer on the field,” said Chapman. “She can take over a game as she has done multiple times the last two years with her skillset and soccer IQ, which is unmatched. But the thing I love most about her is who she is off the field. Her character, leadership and the way she carries herself is so admirable and she has such a gift for connecting with others. There is no doubt we don’t have the success we’ve had these past two years without her.”

Weekley is proud of all her accomplishments, but is most proud of the relationships with her teammates and love and support from her family as she prepares for the next stage of her life in the fall at Covenant College in Lookout Mountain, Ga., where she will play soccer and study physical therapy.

“A few years ago, I had no intention of playing in college and had my mind set on going to Alabama like the rest of my family,” Weekley said. “I never tried to be recruited and didn’t want to be until last year when we won our first state championship. Westminster soccer brought back my joy for the game, and I realized I would miss playing way too much to quit.

“After we won, coach (Mark) Duble from Covenant reached out and wanted me to come play for him. I still didn’t want to play in college, but after talking to my mom, she told me to leave all the doors open and God would guide me where he wanted me to go,” she said. “From there on, so many doors opened telling me Covenant was where I needed to be. With that, I committed to play soccer at Covenant for the next four years because it gave me a Christian environment where I could play the game I love and continue to build relationships that will grow me in my faith.”