The following excerpt comes from book, Soccer Dreams, (a top-seller in sports journalism at Amazon) which describes Leah Lauber’s true adventure following U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team, as a fan and 12-year old Junior Reporter during history-making 1999 Women’s World Cup. While article is now dated and was written primarily for children, lesson itself is timeless in describing what it takes to be a world-class athlete.Do you have what it takes to be a world-class athlete? Do you know what it takes? Well, if you don't know, keep reading!
I attended U.S. Women's National Soccer Team training session at Seminole Sports Training Center near Orlando, Florida recently while team was preparing for Women's World Cup, which began Saturday and runs through July 10.
The United States Women's National Team is a great team. In 1998, their record was 22-1-2, losing only to Norway. The U.S. team won Women's World Cup in '91, came in third in '95, and won '96 gold medal in first-ever Olympic soccer competition for women.
When we arrived at field, team was already warming up and stretching. They were working on individual skills like juggling, volleys, and heading. Then they played small-sided games like 4 vs. 2, playing to maintain possession of ball. The purpose was to transition to defense as fast as possible once a player lost ball.
Next, they worked on fine art of "finishing," or scoring goals. They worked on several ways to attack goal from different angles.
What impressed me most was that best women's team in world was practicing so hard! After practice I spoke to a few of players.
"We know every other team is playing their best when they face us, so we have to be as good as we can be," said defender Brandi Chastain.
Goalie Briana Scurry added, "You have to work hard to stay best."
"In order to achieve your goals and get where you want to be, you have to continue to practice," said forward Danielle Fotopoulos. "I always practice year-round with a club team or doing whatever I can to improve myself."
When players were younger, they sometimes had to miss parties, dances, and sleepovers, just so they could play soccer. Most of us would consider those sacrifices, but they don't, they chose to play for their love of game.
The rewards are great for these world-class athletes: traveling around world as a team, getting paid to play and competing in Olympics.
"That was a dream come true for me," Scurry said about winning gold medal in 1996 Olympics.
"I had been dreaming about being in Olympics since I was really young, so it was an incredible feeling for me. My family was there, my friends were there, we won it at home (in Atlanta), so it was just most unbelievable experience."
What’s best thing about being on National Team? "I get to play sport that I love everyday with my best friends," Chastain said.
"The relationships and friendships, we're just a big family here," said Scurry, "I can count on team for anything."
Though they do take their sport seriously, it's not just work, work, work all time for this team. During a water break, team members were laughing, joking and throwing water on each other. When coaches called them to resume, it was instantly back to work. When practice finished, players still had to attend a team meeting and work out with weights.