Williston’s Zoe Melia ’27 has relished every moment playing for the Puerto Rico youth national teams, and now she’ll get the chance to represent the history-making team at the U-17 World Cup.

Melia and her Puerto Rican teammates made the field for the World Cup proper by finishing four in the regional qualifiers. Puerto Rico plays in CONCACAF, the same federation as the United States, and the World Cup qualifiers were held in Costa Rica in March. The U-17 girls are the first Puerto Rican team, male or female, to qualify for a World Cup at any level.

“Gratitude is a top feeling,” Melia said when asked about the qualifying process, “because I owe everything to my parents. Their sacrifices have gotten me to where I am today. And then, apart from that, it’s just surreal. Making history isn’t something that happens every day, so I’m trying to stay in the moment and understand that what we accomplished actually happened.”

In the qualifiers, there were three groups for pool play. Puerto Rico was in Group B with the USA, Haiti, and Bermuda. Melia’s team defeated Haiti and Bermuda, and lost to the U.S. to finish second in the group. The group winners of each group automatically advanced, and a tiebreaker for teams that finished second determined the fourth team to go. Melia recalled the anxiety and then elation as her team found out their fate, which came after Mexico defeated Costa Rica.

“The first time Mexico scored, we were jumping all over the place. It was really awesome,” Melia said. “By the final whistle, that was the moment we officially got through, and we were all hugging each other, crying, yelling, and just letting out all of this emotion. It was awesome.”

Melia played the full 90 minutes in all three of the qualifying games as a central midfielder. She scored one goal in the tournament, finding the back of the net against Bermuda. That game was even more special for Melia because, in addition to the goal, she got to play against Williston teammate Evans Welch ’28.

“It was funny during the game, she played attacking mid and I played defensive mid, so we were on each other the whole game,” Melia said with a laugh. “Of course there were moments where we were tackling and being physical because that’s what you have to do, but being able to see a friendly face, I instantly got more relaxed. We hugged after the game and got a picture—nothing but respect for Evans.”

The World Cup qualifiers continued what’s been a stellar junior year for Melia. For Williston, Melia played a key role in the team’s march to the NEPSAC Class B championship game this year and she has recently made a verbal commitment to play collegiate soccer at the College of Charleston.

“From when she joined our program as an eighth grader until now, Zoe has grown tremendously on the field,” said her Williston coach, Sara Reid. “She’s become a confident, reliable presence who changes games in important moments. We’re so proud of her journey and the way she’s represented our community and team.”

With qualification now under the team’s belt, Melia said the focus now turns to training and making sure she’s on the final roster for the World Cup. The tournament is scheduled from October 17–November 7 in Morocco. While plans are still being finalized, Melia said her team was looking to play friendlies across the globe, including potentially Australia and Spain over the summer, and will have a training camp before October to finalize the roster. While Melia wants to make the final squad, she remains grateful at the opportunity to even wear Puerto Rico’s shirt.

“It’s the greatest gift ever, just being able to put on a uniform and listen to the anthem,” Melia said. “I’m extremely blessed to be able to do that. And then in terms of my family, they’re my everything. So being able to support them and show my roots on an international stage is amazing.”