Indi Cowie, “most advanced female freestyler in the world,” lights up D.C.

Last Sunday the Mia Hamm Celebrity Soccer Challenge drew a packed crowd to Kastles Stadium on the Wharf in Washington, D.C. to watch a parade of stars take part in a small-sided soccer game to support Hamm’s foundation in the fight against leukemia and other bone marrow diseases.

But the glitzy occasion’s youngest, least famous guest might have made the biggest splash of all.

Hamm invited 16-year-old freestyler Indi Cowie to her signature event to perform one of her skills routines between the game’s third and fourth quarters, and even the international soccer stars in attendance were dazzled by the North Carolina teenager’s tricks and flicks.

Standout freestyler Dan Magness described her to the New York Times earlier this year as “by far the most advanced female freestyler in the world that I’ve seen,” and watching her in person leaves little doubt that she is a special talent.

A striker in full-sided play, Cowie has trained extensively with Celtic FC in her parents’ homeland of Scotland. But the rising high school senior has already committed to play NCAA soccer at the University of North Carolina “dynasty” that was home to Hamm and many others among the nation’s best.

Potomac Soccer Wire spoke with Indi and her parents, Logan and Judith Cowie, at the Celebrity Soccer Challenge to learn more about how she developed her amazing skills, and how they might help her become a future star for the U.S. Women’s National Team – if Scotland doesn’t get to her first.