US Youth Soccer Region IV

Reports will be posted when received.

Thursday – Amanda Luxford, Ashley Loughmiller and Esther Leon

Our day started at an early 7:30AM already eating breakfast and motivating ourselves for the second big game. You could see in everyone’s faces the anticipation and excitement to get in the cars and get going to the field. Our morning consisted of a healthy breakfast, bagels, fruit and other yummy things, and our usual pump-up speech from the coach. Then it was off to the game with the music blasting and the energy levels rising.

Our game started at 9:30 and from our warm-ups we could tell that it was going to be a high energy level game. Everybody was focused and ready to win. We came out strong scoring in the 16^th minute. Our forward, Ahsha Smith, dribbled down the middle, schooling 3 players. Then we kept the lead through the whole game due to organized defending.

After the game we went straight to pool recovery that was run by our 3 captains. We did water exercises for 20 minutes, then our team went to a movie for Team Bonding. After we got back from the movie, we only had an hour to get ready for dinner. After dinner, we went back to our hotel and had a team meeting. After our team meeting, we went straight to our rooms to try to go to sleep and get ready for a big game tomorrow.

Wednesday – Olivia Klei, Raylene Larot, Chloe Langon

Going into the game, our team was nervous but we didn’t use that energy positively. We didn’t seem to play like it was for the national championship. After mistakes we hung our heads instead of trying harder. We learned a lesson today that we need to really rise to the occasion because there is no tomorrow. We came all this way to show what we have and it is time to start playing like we are capable. After the whistle blew, as a team we were disappointed. Not just in the final score, but in the way we played as a team. Our coaches let us know their disappointment that we didn’t play our game and give our all for each other. Rather than wasting our time being upset, we decided to focus on our preparation for the next game. Our coach let us know that one of his previous teams lost their first game but still came back to win the National championship. That’s our goal now.

Tuesday – luncheon and pool recovery
Marissa Fraticelli, Madeline Fox, Megan Jurado

We all woke up this morning and walked down the hall for breakfast in one of the rooms. Everyone was still dressed in their PJ’s and looking a little tired. Then we all headed back to our rooms to get ready for the luncheon. Everyone was rushed when the time was pushed back a half hour. We met downstairs in the lobby and took pictures. Everyone was dressed up in dresses and heels. It was really fun to see all the girls without soccer clothes and cleats. We arrived at the luncheon and took tons of pictures. As we got seated, we watched a clip of last years games on the big screen. The luncheon consisted of a salad, chicken and mashed potatoes and a chocolate cake. We heard a few speeches and got to see all the trophies. It was a really fun experience that we will never forget. We came to the hotel and ran up to our rooms to change into our swimsuits for pool recovery. After a 30 minute pool workout we were all excited to go take a nap. Then we met downstairs and headed off to dinner at an Italian restaurant. We all ordered pasta as we laughed and goofed off together. When we came back to the hotel we all had to go sign our player passes and then go to our team meeting. Everyone was pretty hyper and excited for the game tomorrow. We then had 2 hours of freetime where we all watched movies together. Some watched Shrek II and the others watched Perfect Strangers. Lights out was at 9:30 when our phones are collected and everyone goes to their own room. Everyone is anxious for the big game tomorrow.

Monday – practice and TCU
Rachel Clark, Alexa Douglas, Samantha Cloutier

The team woke up at 6am. Surprisingly Philippe has a wake-up call reserved for all of our rooms at 5:45am – which really didn’t make any of us happy. Breakfast was silent and at 6:45 we made our voyage to our practice. After an hour long ride we finally found ourselves on a beautiful campus. The field we practiced on was the best. A nice yet simple stadium surrounded by nice green grass and small shrubs. The grass was newly cut and short, just the way we like it. Practice was fun with the exception of the angry outburst from our coach. After practice we went on a 30 minute tour around the TCU campus. The team was astonished about how nice the campus was. We learned about some of the history of the school and what they are planning on doing in the future. Some of our teammates really liked the campus and are considering looking into this school some more. At 6:30pm we met in the lobby for dinner. We took the vans to a Mexican restaurant called the Blue Goose. The food was pretty good and was another fun time as a team. We returned to the hotel and went to one room and rented a movie. Then it was off to bed at our 9:30 curfew.

Sunday – Travel Day
Olivia Klei, Samantha Cloutier, Rachel Clark

Waking up at 4AM wasn’t the best way to start a day, especially when one’s traveling. The only thing that lightened our spirits was the fact that we were headed for nationals. The plane flight was long, yet most of us spent the night sleeping. We were still in our polos and sweat outfits when we arrived. As we stepped outside, the Texas heat affected our moods as we sweat waiting for cars. We entered our hotel and it was awesome. After a quick lunch we took a 3 hour nap in our two room suites. It felt amazing, the beds were priceless. We completed our extremely long day with dinner at a steak place – very authentic may I add. The day was long but with the comfortable beds we were able to fall fast asleep…no joke!