Experiencing Soccer at the Olympic and International Level
Soccer News: The U.S. Under-18 Women’s National Team came together from Oct. 18-25 for its fourth event of the year when 26 players travel to the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, California. Of those 25 players, four are from San Diego Surf SC, Arlie Jones, Kaiya McCullough, Sunny Dunphy and Taylor Kornieck.
The U18s are coached by U.S. Soccer Women’s Technical Director April Heinrichs. During the camp, the U-18s also played the San Diego Sea Lions of the W-League on Oct. 24 and the U18’s came out victorious with 2-0 shutout.
All the players in this camp were born in 1998 and all are eligible for the team that will attempt to qualify for the 2016 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup, but the goal for this age group is ultimately the 2018 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup.
Jones and another San Diego Surf SC player Julie Doyle, who have been part of the U.S National Team for many years had the chance to visit Mexico with the USWNT U18’s where they got to experience soccer at the international level.
The girls traveled to Mexico City in August where they experienced their first international cap, with a draw and loss to the Mexico U-20 Women’s National Team.
Jones who plays for the Surf ECNL U17 said, “I was honored to be identified and to have the opportunity to compete and wear the crest and representing Surf Soccer Club. We trained hard every training session and learned the importance of playing well individually, in addition to playing well as a team. I was, of course, nervous to have the opportunity to play in my first international match. In a good way, the pressure and expectations for me to grow and get better took me out of my comfort zone.”
Doyle spoke about her experience and said, “Going into my first international game, there was a mixture of nerves and excitement. My team played against Mexico’s U20 WNT. I played a full 90 minutes in both games. The speed of play was extremely fast which forced every player on the field to be engaged the entire game.”
Away from all the training, the USWNT also took part in team-bonding and fun activities to strengthen and build team chemistry. They also had a chance to experience Mexico’s amazing culture with river boat trips and guided tours by the locals.
Jones and Doyle summarized their experience and said, “We were happy to get international experience together. It is always an honor to wear the U.S. crest. This was an incredible opportunity that we will never forget and probably would not have been able to partake in without the exposure we received playing with one of the best clubs in the Nation.”
