GERMANTOWN, Md. — Natalie Lennartsson, a perky fourth grader who is 10 going on 17, said she didn’t learn “a ton” of new things Wednesday at a soccer clinic hosted by the Washington Spirit, the local women’s professional team.

“We did a lot of drills,” Natalie said. “But, you know, we already know a lot about the game.”

Of course she does. Natalie has been playing soccer since she was 6.

At the clinic, for 100 young girls obsessed with soccer, Natalie wore a jersey from her traveling team, the North Carroll Nighthawks, based about an hour away in Maryland. Her long blond hair was pulled back into a ponytail and kept in place by a rainbow-colored headband. She dribbled the ball with ease, as if it were tethered to her toes by an invisible string.

Girls like Natalie have flocked to soccer since Brandi Chastain ripped off her jersey at the 1999 World Cup — the moment when mainstream America finally noticed that women played soccer.