Women's Soccer World Cup Tour

The excitement was building yesterday for the U.S. game versus Sweden.  We left for Wolfsburg early in the morning (a 5 hour bus drive) to
make sure we would be there in plenty of time and get the chance to explore the city.  While Wolfsburg is by no means a metropolis it is
the home to das auto (VW), they also have a ton of shopping outlets and outdoors restaurants and pubs.  Not only could we buy great clothes, but we could eat good food too!  In fact in the middle of all this, ESPN set up their studio and our group ran into Tony DiCicco (former national team coach).  He spoke to us about his thoughts about the upcoming game and his predictions.  Additionally and I can’t say I saw this firsthand…but some members of our group spotted Brandi Chastain (who apparently has also been commenting on ESPN) juggling a soccer ball in high heels (so cool).

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Yesterday, July 4th our group visited FC Cologne, a local club that was only 40 minutes away from Hennef (where we have been staying).   We had a great presentation given to us by Boris, where he showed us the latest video technology being used to track players and team statistics.  We toured the facility and watched as members of their sports lab edited video for teams all over the world.  It kind of reminded me of the movie Social Network…there were a lot of computers, silence and coffee in one room.  It was pretty mind blowing how much analysis is done on teams and individual players.  After our tour, we decided it would be great if we could have our own little July 4th celebration in Germany. We went out to a delicious restaurant and had some great cuisine…pork knuckles for me and once again, my plate was cleaned off.
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On Wednesday, June 29th our group had the opportunity to observe the National Team’s first practice after their huge win against North Korea.  What an experience!

Our group arrived to the training field early, and as the National Team pulled in we cheered as loud as we could.  Even though they had no idea who we were (you could tell by their facial expressions) they put on a great performance at practice!  While it was only the reserves practicing (as all of the starters were in the pool doing recovery workouts back at the hotel) the session was great to observe.  The practice was very basic, but the intensity level doing a basic pass and follow drill was what made it unbelievable to watch.  In fact, every exercise they did in the session was something our team has done at our own practices.  We were practically on the field and were able to hear all of the coaching points and positive feedback that Coach Sundhage was giving the players.

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Greetings from Germany!

After a long flight and two train rides, it was amazing to get to the Hennef Sports Center our home base for the next two weeks.   My good friend and coach of Earlham College, Jocelyn Keller, is my roommate for the trip and as soon as I saw her there was screaming, hugging and giddiness.

We had our first group meeting where we all made our introductions.  To say I’m surrounded by some good coaches is the understatement of the year (I sat next to Randy Waldrum at breakfast, head women’s coach of Notre Dame and asked him “what did it feel like to win a national championship this year?”).  After our meeting we went to watch a few training sessions led by the DFB pro licensee candidates.  Basically these people are trying to get the top coaching license in Germany through this ten month, very intensive coaching course…no pressure.

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Dear Diary…oh wait, wrong blog.

After much anticipation, my trip to Germany has finally arrived.  I’m currently in New York and will be flying out tonight from JFK into Frankfurt Airport.  From there I will take a train to Cologne, then another train to Hennef.  While traveling can sometimes be stressful, I have to say that after taking the team to Brazil last summer, this trip (or the planning of this trip) has been a piece of cake.  However, let’s be honest, I will miss the team and wish they were with me to enjoy this experience…who wouldn’t want to be around their sparkling personalities?

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The 2011 NSCAA Women’s World Cup Tour and Special Topics Course will be held in Germany June 27-July 8. This 11-day tour will include all three opening round matches involving the U.S. Women’s National Team as well as a fourth match between Germany and France. Also included are coaching education sessions, meals, lodging and transportation while in Germany.

Download the 2011 WWC Tour Itinerary