From the age of three, Jordi Ives has always had a ball at her feet.
Every weekend, she would watch soccer and kick the ball around with her father. By the age of eight, she decided that soccer was the path she wanted to pursue and started to become serious.
The Tucson native began playing club soccer with FC Tucson Youth Soccer Academy and went on to letter all four years at Mountain View High School. Ives earned a number of accolades during her high school career, starting as a freshman when she was named the team’s MVP. In the same year, she led the Arizona National Premier League U16 team to a state championship. She went on to be named to the 5A Girls Soccer All-Stars second team in 2017, first-team all-conference in 2018, and named to the 5A Girls Soccer All-Stars first team in 2019.
Ives will be entering her junior year at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado, where she is continuing her studies while also playing for the school’s Division I team.
“I wasn’t looking to go to a military academy, but my coach Amy Garelick knew a coach at the Air Force Academy and said it was a perfect place for me,” said Ives. “I went to a camp and I fell in love with the school’s mission, the team, coaches and atmosphere. I also wanted a challenge.”
In her first year at the academy, Ives was named to the Mountain West All-Newcomer Team after starting seven of the side’s eight games that season.
Ives scored a spectacular goal for the Air Force Academy last fall, when she fired the ball from far outside the box to give the academy the win over San Jose State.
Jordi Ives called game.#LetsFly⚡️ pic.twitter.com/BCuV6ETiat
— Air Force Women’s Soccer (@AF_WSOC) September 25, 2021
Ives only gets to spend three weeks every summer back in Tucson, but looks forward to coming home and playing with FC Tucson. She has featured with the team since she was 16, originally making the training roster before being added to the game day roster at the end of the season. Although she did not feature for the club during her senior year of high school, she has come back and played the last two seasons.
“Kelly coached me my freshman year of high school and when I went to college she contacted me,” Ives said. “I’m grateful to be a part of the team and love doing it over the summer.”
After graduation, Ives will serve in the United States Air Force for at least five years and plans to make it a career and serve for 20 years. During active duty, she aims to try out for the Armed Forces Team and any WPSL teams that may be available where she is stationed.
Ives featured for FC Tucson in its last game last season where the team clinched the Desert Conference championship, and strives to have a repeat of last season.
“The talent is just incredible, the team is great, and I love coming back and catching up with all of them,” said Ives. “We’re trying to take it one game at a time, and we have the talent to be back-to-back champions and we’re really excited.”
