ALBUQUERQUE — Liana Coppola has grown up on the soccer fields of Northern New Mexico, but it wasn't until she joined an Albuquerque-based team that she began to sprout as a soccer player.

"I heard her telling her teammates, 'I used to be a serial flower picker for a long time until Jason (Hix) offered me a spot,' " recalls her mom, Stephanie Coppola, a longtime Santa Fe coach at the high school and club levels. "I didn't think she'd ever pick it up."

You could say she's picked it up in a big way now.

The lean and lanky Coppola, the Class A-AAA Player of the Year after helping St. Michael's High School win the state championship as a junior last November, is leading the under-17 Rio Vista FC Riot into the U.S. Youth Soccer Association Far West Regional Championships, which begin today.

State champions from across 13 Western states (California sends representatives from both the north and the south) will vie for the coveted regional title in eight age groups from U-12 through U-19 throughout the week at the State Farm Insurance Soccer Complex on the Santa Ana Pueblo near Bernalillo. Winners in the six oldest age groups advance to the national championships next month in Overland Park, Kan.

The Riot are playing in their first regional tournament after winning the New Mexico State Cup for the first time.

"That makes it that much sweeter," Liana Coppola says. "We've been trying to get there for such a long time. It's nice at this age because we can really appreciate it."

It takes a huge commitment from the Coppola family to make it happen, as the Riot trains in Albuquerque several times a week.

"It's a lot more time, but it's definitely worth it," Liana Coppola says. "The competition and just everything I get out of playing down here is worth it."

Riot coach Heather Dyche certainly appreciates the effort.

"Liana's commitment to this team and her own success is incredibly admirable," she says. "She has transformed from a really good athlete into an incredible soccer player over the last couple of years. She has an amazing drive and intrinsic motivation to utilize her potential. She is constantly pushing herself to get better."

The Coppolas have been making the trek south for four years. It's just part of the annual routine.

"It actually goes by easier now that I'm older," Liana Coppola says. "I do it with my mom and we switch off (driving). It's nice to spend that time stretching in the car and really spending that time focusing for practice."

While the rest of the Riot are making their first regional appearance, the Coppolas already have some experience with the event.

In 2006, Stephanie Coppola coached the Northern Soccer Club's U-19 Daredevils to the regionals in Boise, Idaho. It was the first northern-based team to earn a regional berth. And Liana Coppola went along as team manager.

It was an experience neither will forget.

"I got to see it," Liana Coppola says. "It was a spectacle. It was really amazing. We didn't do so well. That's just coming out of a small town and not really being able to see competition."

Stephanie Coppola believes that firsthand experience proved invaluable for Liana.

"Kids in New Mexico don't understand what (the regionals) means," the elder Coppola, Santa Fe Preparatory head coach, says. "The energy and the excitement of regionals is basically unmatched. It's all state champions. All the best from each state and they're all looking to try to go to nationals.

"As in any sport, the bigger the venue, the more that's at stake, the more the pressure and the more the girls are going to feel nervous. So the more experience really does play a role. Every time you play in a championship-caliber match, whether it's high school or club, you gain that experience. What do you do when you're nervous? How do you adjust? I think those are all huge lessons. Taking her to regionals and actually seeing it but not playing it has got to be good for her."

Now Liana Coppola is hoping to put those lessons she's learned to good use on the field.