Day 1 -- June 17, 2013

I woke up this morning at 5 o’clock wired on adrenaline despite the fact that I got only three hours of sleep last night. Every camp is the same. I’m so excited and nervous the night before my flight that it’s a miracle if I get any sleep at all.

Window seat !

View of San Diego on approach

My official traveling uniform

One of my favorite aspects of the traveling is getting to wear my red US Soccer polo. For me the polo is a symbol that signifies all the hard work I’ve put in to become the best player I can be. Another aspect of traveling that I like is the feeling of independence. When I travel to San Diego, it’s just me by myself and, although I love my parents very much, these camps are a very welcome break.


When I arrived at the airport, there was a USA Olympic van waiting curbside to bring me to the Olympic Training Center. When I got to the OTC, it was only 10:30 and I had almost 6 hours to kill before practice, which I spent walking around the grounds and hanging out in the AT&T Center. The AT&T Center is basically just a place for athletes to relax and unwind between training sessions. The AT&T Center has tons of things to do. There are two pool tables, a ping pong table, foosball, a Wii, and Xbox, and a big screen TV right in the center of the room. There’s even a basketball court out back.

When it was finally close to practice time, I walked over to the trainers to get my uniform, but he was waiting with some extra surprises. We were given new cleats, red and black Nike Tiempos, and blue and white running shoes. Thank You to U.S. Soccer!

New practice uniform

New Nike Tiempos!

My home for the next four weeks

At 3:30 I headed down to the practice field for the first practice of the month, which mentally is always the hardest. Practice today consisted of soccer tennis, in which two teams of six players kick a ball across the net, one bounce per side. After warm ups, we worked on a simple passing drill to kick off the camp, and then we played a small sided scrimmage. What was special about this scrimmage was that you could only take a maximum of two touches, which forces you to think quickly with the ball at your feet.

After practice it’s time for dinner. Dinner tonight was pasta with marinara sauce, grilled vegetables, and scalloped potatoes. It was delicious. At 9 o’clock everyone goes off to they’re separate rooms to wind down for the night and get ready for the next day of practices. When I’m here, I get to live my dream of being a national team soccer player, and I’m enjoying every minute of it.