Day 11 -- June 27, 2013

In the time since I’ve been writing this blog about my experiences during camp, I’ve received a lot of
questions from family, friends, and coaches who want to know more about the team. Therefore, in today's entry I will to answer some of the most frequently asked questions. If you have other questions, please write them in the comments and I will attempt to answer them in another post.

1. Are you currently trying out for the team?  Or are you already on the team?

Although I have not played any international games, I am considered to be part of the player pool because I’m old enough to travel and have been to multiple camps. This is my ninth camp.

2. What other teams train in Chula Vista? 

There are many other teams that train here, including men’s and women’s rugby, track and field, beach volleyball, BMX, and archery. One team that came in for a short time was the women’s alpine ski team, who were here to do some offseason conditioning, which is basically running and strength training. We were lucky enough to scrimmage with them yesterday morning.

After a scrimmage with the US Women's Ski Team

3.  What's the average age of the other players?

The average age of the players on the US Paralympic soccer team is about 24, with the youngest on the team being me (16), and the oldest being the Captain, Josh McKinney (33 ish). I will try to do a profile of Josh in a later entry.

4. What qualifies you to be a member of the US Paralympic soccer team?

In order to be a member of this team, you need to have either Cerebral Palsy (CP), which is a condition caused by nerve damage. CP usually results from hydrocephalus (water on the brain) or a stroke. Another way you can become a member of the team is by suffering a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). This means any sort of severe blow to the head, ranging from an extremely bad car accident to being hit by a bomb in a tank while serving in Afghanistan. We have players with both types of TBI injuries and players with CP on our team. I have CP, and have had it since I was a baby.

5.  How long are you going to at the camp?

During the school year, training camps only last about a week, but because we have a tournament in Barcelona on July 23th, we will be here for almost four weeks, from June 17th to July 13th. This is the longest camp of my career.

6. How many players are on the team? 

There are approximately thirty players in the player pool. Each one of those players are in contention a spot o the traveling team. However, only fourteen get to travel for a tournament at any given time. My goal is to be one of those fourteen at the end of camp, heading to the tournament in Barcelona.

7.  Does you play soccer every day, all day?  Do you get to do anything else?

We have training twice a day, from 9-11 in the morning and 4-6 in the afternoon. On some days we have weight training instead of soccer practice. In between training sessions we are free to do whatever we want. Some of my favorite things to do in my free time include, reading, watching TV, shooting hoops, or just taking a nap.

The basketball hoop behind the AT&T Center