SAN ANTONIO — “I’m glad I hit the record button," 13-year-old Mabry Williams says with a laugh. "It took me about 20 minutes."
How did that trick shot only take 20 minutes?!
"I would line myself up with a tree (in front of me) and that tree lines up with the basketball hoop," Mabry explained. "I told myself to just kick it as hard as you could, to get as far as you can and then it swished."
Mabry is a 13-year-old soccer phenom out of San Antonio and the video her mother posted on social media, in March, received all sorts of national attention.
“NBA and soccer players retweeted it. It was super cool," Mabry said.
Then a crazy opportunity came up three months later.
“I would never think something like this would happen," Mabry said. "I saw the voting process and then I made the first round and I was like ‘oh, I can actually go further.’”
In the category of ‘Can’t-Stop-Watching Moment,’ Mabry made it to the quarterfinals. Unfortunately, she did not make it into the Final Four in the category, but she says she is happy to be getting national recognition.
“Oh, that would be great as a local from San Antonio to reach the National stage. That would be cool," Mabry said.
One day, the future Johnson High School product is going to prove she is more than a trick shot. Before the pandemic, she was invited to a U.S. Soccer under-14 regional camp.
Less than 200 kids nationally get that chance.
“My short-term goal is to reach the U-15 National Team. Then long-term (goal) would be to get to a good (Division I) college.”
Her dream?
Play on the biggest stage of them all at the World Cup.
