Striker Lucy Cooper has made eye-catching progress since joining AFC Bournemouth in 2016, having played previously for Broadstone Girls.
Starting out in the under-12s for the Cherries, she has scored freely as she has moved through the age groups.
Despite being eligible for the under-16s, her prolific goalscoring record saw her elevated to the development squad at the start of the 2021/22 season.
She scored a hat-trick on her debut in a 3-2 win against Eversley & California before netting again in a 2-2 draw with AFC Stoneham.
Cooper was not permitted to play for the first team until she had turned 16 in October 2021, although she trained with Steve Cuss’ squad ahead of her birthday.
She made an instant impact on her debut, scoring a dramatic injury-time winner in a 2-1 victory over Bournemouth Sports in the first round of the Women’s FA Cup in November 2021.
Cooper was again on target in the second round, her eighth-minute effort coming in a 2-1 defeat against Portsmouth.
She was handed her league debut against Southampton Women in December 2021 and bagged her first National League goal in a 3-1 win over Swindon Town, just her second first team appearance.
By the end of March 2022, Cooper had netted 11 goals in 13 games for the first team, including doubles against Portishead and Maidenhead United.
Cooper saw off strong competition from Dominic Solanke and Siriki Dembele to win the club’s Strategic Solutions-sponsored Goal of the Month award for February 2022.
She polled almost 50 per cent of the vote for her stunning strike in AFC Bournemouth’s 4-0 win over Poole Town in the women’s National League.
Cooper, who continued to flourish in the 2022/23 campaign with 16 goals in 26 games, also took part in a five-day training camp with England Schools at under-15 level, playing two games in Holland.
Her cousin Ben Cooper was a scholar at AFC Bournemouth and now works for the Community Sports Trust.