MOULTRIE — Kaitlyn Price will get a chance to play the game she enjoys at the next level and have her education paid for by an academic scholarship to boot.

Price, the goalkeeper on the Colquitt County High girls soccer team, has signed to play next season at Converse College, a liberal arts college for women in Spartanburg, S.C. Her tuition will be paid by the four-year Robert T. Coleman academic scholarship.

Price, one of top net minders in Region 1-AAAAA, earned her scholarship with her work in the classroom as well. She ranks 13th in the Colquitt County High Class of 2006 with a 3.9 grade point average.

She also is one of the busiest members of the school’s senior class and playing at an All-Region 1-AAAAA level for the soccer team in just one of her activities.

She is a member of 4-H, Student Council, Key Club, the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, the literary team and the Spanish, math and science clubs.

She volunteers at the Moultrie YMCA’s summer day camp, is a YMCA lifeguard and is a certified soccer referee. In December, she received the Moultrie YMCA’s 2005 John Mobley Character Award.

Her academic achievements include being a Georgia Certificate of Merit, a Presbyterian College Junior Scholar and a Wofford Scholar.

She also is a talented member of the Colquitt County High 50th Regiment Band and, although she says she does not enjoy running, she also has been a member of the school’s cross country team.

And is that determination to run, when she clearly has other things she would rather do, that has especially impressed Colquitt County girls soccer coach Jimbo Jarvis.

“She hates running, but she does it because she knows that will make her a better player,” Jarvis said on Tuesday after Price sat between her parents Dr. and Mrs. Billy Ray Price and signed with Converse College. “She has always wanted to improve, each and every day.”

A two-year starter for the Lady Packers, she has helped lead her team to the state playoffs the last two seasons. Jarvis has called her perhaps the best goalkeeper in the region.

And she wanted a chance to continue donning the gloves and getting between the pipes.

Initially unsure about Converse, Price was encouraged by her mother to make a visit and enjoyed it when she traveled there before Thanksgiving.

“I liked the feel of the college and the players I stayed with,” she said.

Maureen Price said she was pleased with her daughter’s decision.

“It’s a great campus,” she said. “The admission counselor has kept in touch all the time. They’ve just been wonderful.”

Price helped put together a video of her performances on the playing field and sent it to the team’s coach.

The video was available from Ron Hunter, who taped the Lady Packers games the last few years while daughter Julie was playing.

Price has a chance to add more footage to her tape. The Lady Packers open state tournament play on Thursday against Stephenson High in Stone Mountain.

And while she said she is unsure what she will major in, it is certain she will go at it as she has an attack from an opposition soccer team or a challenge in the classroom.