This week, a who’s who of high school basketball players has been in Las Vegas for one of the premier tournaments in the country.

These players are playing with their club teams, teams that are hand-picked and made up of some of the best talent in the team’s respective area.

A couple of months ago, there was a tournament similar to the one held this week in Las Vegas.

The only difference is the teams were made up of girls.

Girls playing soccer, not basketball.

In the middle of the action stood Sweetwater’s own Bailey Shope.

Shope, who will begin practice on Monday with the Lady Wildcats’ soccer team, was playing with one of East Tennessee’s elite teams. 

So elite, the team has won back-to-back titles in its age group.

The team, which goes by the name Nike Impact Premier, features players from traditionally strong programs in the Knoxville area, including Oak Ridge, CAK, Webb and Sevierville.

The team, which played in the U16 age division this season, will move up to U17, but still compete in Division I, the highest level of competition.

Shope says that beyond the skill level, the amount of work and dedication required are higher with the select team.

“It’s different because everyone [on the select team] works so hard and is a lot more dedicated to the team.”

Dedication is needed for the select group as the season runs from November through late June. Shope said there are at least two practices of two to three hours and a game, scrimmage or tournament each weekend.

While Sweetwater’s biggest rivals are neighbors Sequoyah, Tellico Plains, and Loudon, Shope’s select team only sees its rivals at tournaments.

“The best teams we play from Tennessee are in Memphis. A Charlotte (North Carolina) team and we play a Texas team that’s a pretty big game for us,” said Shope.

With the amount of talent Shope faces each practice and game, she says it has helped her become a better soccer player.

And much like the AAU tournaments are a springboard for bigger and better things in basketball, the select teams help Shope get noticed by scouts for her soccer abilities.

“I feel like I have an advantage when I get back to high school because I play better people and better teams. Competitive is definitely where it’s going to get me later on, like with college maybe,” said Shope.

Despite the differences, Shope says there are things she likes about both levels of soccer.

“High school is more relaxed and easy to deal with and just kind of more fun because it’s not so serious. But at the same time I like the seriousness of the select soccer because I feel like I’m putting my time out there for something that’s going to be good for me in the future.”

Starting this week, though, Shope will get back to the fun, laid-back side of soccer as she and her teammates look to return to the form that got them to the state tournament just two seasons ago.