Aug. 11, 2002
Santa Clara University women's soccer players Jessica Ballweg, Megan Kakadelas and Leslie Osborne are currently training with the U.S. Under 19 National Women's Soccer Team, preparing for that age group's first World Championship. The following are notes provided by U.S. Soccer:
USA COMPLETES TWO DAYS OF TRAINING IN PORTLAND; HEADS TO CANADA TOMORROW
The U.S. Under-19 Women's National Team finished its short two-day training
stint in Portland this afternoon at the sun-soaked Ronaldo Fields on the
campus of the NIKE World Headquarters. The U.S. team squared off against a
team of local collegians, made up mostly of players from the University of
Portland and the University of Washington, and notched a solid 2-0 victory on
goals from Manya Makoski and Lindsay Tarpley. Overlooking the Ronaldo Fields
is a bigger-than-life bronze statue of the Brazilian soccer deity. The U.S.
players posed for a picture with Brazil's #9, which ironically sits not far
from a building named after another famous #9, Mia Hamm.
BUSY WEEKEND IN PORTLAND
The U.S. team arrived in Portland on Friday afternoon after a nine-day break
following the team's last training camp at the U.S. Olympic Training Center
in San Diego in late July. On Friday night, the young U.S. players had
dinner on the Joan Benoit Samuelson Patio on the NIKE Campus after being
treated to a multi-media presentation from the NIKE soccer marketing staff at
Steve Prefontaine Hall. NIKE welcomed the U-19s to the picturesque northwest
and wished them luck as they head up to Canada for the first-ever FIFA
Under-19 Women's World Championship. The U.S. team had a full day on Friday,
training in the morning, eating lunch on the patio of the Tiger Woods Center,
and then did team-building exercises with U.S. Women's National Team Sports
Psychologist Dr. Colleen Hacker, which as usual, produced a challenging,
educational, but laughter filled afternoon. The U.S. team then enjoyed the
amenities of the Lance Armstrong Fitness Center for several hours and got a
tour of the Mia Hamm Building before regrouping for dinner at the Tiger
Woods, followed by a meeting with Dr. Hacker. The U.S. team returned to
their hotel for "Christmas in August," each receiving a tall stack of brand
new NIKE gear and shoes to outfit them for this historic World Championship.
On Sunday following the scrimmage, the USA posed for their official team
photo on massive lawn in front of the Tiger Woods Center before heading back
to the hotel for dinner and one final meeting with Dr. Hacker before heading
back to their rooms to pack for the trip to Canada.
ROLLING UP TO CANADA
The U.S. team will leave tomorrow morning for Victoria, B.C., site of all
three of the USA's first round games, as the team will take a five-hour bus
ride through some of the most beautiful country in the United States, driving
through Oregon and Washington to get to the USA-Canadian border. The team
will go through customs and then re-board the bus as it rolls straight onto a
ferry for a one-hour cruise that will take them to Vancouver Island and the
stunningly scenic Victoria. Located on the southeastern tip of the Vancouver
Island across the Straight of Juan de Fuca from Washington state's snowcapped
Olympic peninsula, Victoria is actually 45 miles south of the 49th Parallel,
the border between most of Canada and the contiguous United States.
FOLLOW THE U.S. U-19s LIVE ON MATCHTRACKER PRESENTED BY PHILIPS ELECTRONICS
A total of 14 games from the 2002 FIFA Women's World Championship will be
shown on Rogers Sportsnet inside the Canadian borders, including all games
involving Canada's U-19s and its group in Edmonton, all four quarter-finals,
both semi-finals and the consolation final and Final. Two highlight shows
will also be broadcast during the tournament. However, the matches will not
be shown in the United States unless fans can find a satellite dish that
picks up the Canadian station. Still fans can follow the action as it
happens during all the U.S. matches on www.ussoccer.com's MatchTracker,
presented by Philips Electronics. The USA will open the tournament on
Saturday, Aug. 17, against England at 1 p.m. PT. That is also the first
match of the tournament.
GENERATION TO GENERATION: 11 YEARS AFTER CHINA '91
At this time 11 years ago, a group of U.S. Women's National Team players were
also preparing for a "first" FIFA World Championship for women. Those
players, which included several familiar names who were about the same age as
these current U.S. U-19s, would go onto win the first ever FIFA Women's World
Cup in China. On that team were a 19-year-old Mia Hamm, a 20-year-old Julie
Foudy, a 20-year-old Kristine Lilly and a pair of spry 23-year-olds, Brandi
Chastain and Joy Fawcett. That team and the 2002 U.S. Under-19 World
Championship team share several common characteristics: tremendous unity,
dynamic attacking personalities and a keen appreciation of their opportunity
to make history. The one common link between both teams, a person who can
share the history and tradition of the U.S. Women's National Team programs,
is U.S. head coach Tracey Leone, who was a reserve midfielder on that first
Women's World Cup Team, starting one game in the tournament against Japan.
THE 19th PLAYER
In a sad and heart-wrenching turn of events for the U.S. team, midfielder
Annie Schefter, who had been named to the 18-player roster for the World
Championship, tore her the ACL in her right knee in a pickup game a little
more than a week before the U.S. was to arrive in Portland. Schefter had
surgery last Tuesday, but amazingly joined her teammates in Portland on
Friday, sometimes walking without crutches, and attended the trainings and
meetings to show her support, as well as helping out as the "assistant
equipment coordinator," sorting and passing out gear, all the while icing her
knee and doing therapy. Schefter, who is headed to Notre Dame after the
tournament and will have to red-shirt her freshman year, will also be in
Canada to cheer the team on.
STAT OF NOTE
U.S. forward Kelly Wilson is the only player on the World Championship roster
who has more goals (22) than caps (14) in full Under-19 international
matches. Team captain Linsday Tarpley is close with 20 U-19 caps and 18
goals.
QUOTES OF THE WEEK:
U.S. defender Jill Oakes on beginning the team's quest for a youth world championship:
Oakes: "When we all got to Portland, we could feel there was something different about this trip. All of our conversations, our activities and our focus are on Canada. Tomorrow, we set foot on the soil of the country in which we play for a world championship. Everyone is so excited."
U.S. defender Kendall Fletcher in a philosophical conversation with her teammates about why there should NOT be a fourth Austin Powers movie:
Fletcher: "The third movie was really good, which is rare for sequel to a sequel. It would just get too redundant with a fourth. Plus, now that Dr. Evil has gone to the good side, they should keep it that way."