KATELYN PENNER: Probably The Best Football Player Girl

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A 12-year-old Beaverton girl is becoming the next YouTube sensation after making a video of herself juggling a soccer ball across Portland and Beaverton. It’s called “Katelyn Penner Walkabout “(Juggling) is just fun and it helps you take your mind off other things,” said Katelyn. She’s been honing her fancy footwork since she was three. “I remember when Katelyn first started juggling,” said Loren Penner. “She had a hard time getting to ten and then she got to 5,001 (before dropping the ball).” That’s Katelyn’s record, which she’ll probably break soon. It’s among her many goals, both in and out of the soccer net. “I want to be a soccer player on the US Women’s National Team,” Katelyn said. One of her favorite players is Portland Thorne Tobin Heath. Heath scored Portland’s championship-winning goal last August. But it was Heath’s Walkabout Video on YouTube that really inspired Katelyn to follow in Heath’s fancy footsteps. In her video, Katelyn juggled across the Nike corporate campus, paused impressively at Providence Park and made the drive-thru at an Aloha Dairy Queen into a “kick-thru.” “I like soft-serve ice cream,” said Katelyn. A lot of folks like Katelyn’s video, including some of her soccer heroes. “Heather Mitts said it was very impressive and Yael Averbuch said, ‘That’s awesome,'” Katelyn shared. “I’m really happy!” Katelyn isn’t letting the attention go to her head. Just her feet. She said she’s not going to change her goals for the future. “Lots of practice and keep doing hard work and taking all the opportunities I can get,” Katelyn said. ( 5elected from www.kgw.com )