tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-90806956755614485712024-03-05T00:29:22.762-08:00Christen PressAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06633982287638051335noreply@blogger.comBlogger96125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9080695675561448571.post-72076927603941534752015-06-09T16:07:00.000-07:002015-06-09T16:07:09.784-07:00To Infinity and Beyond!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<i>This article originally appeared on <a href="http://www.theplayerstribune.com/christen-press-womens-world-cup-2015/" target="_blank">The Player's Tribune.</a></i></div>
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I was mystified when my fifth grade teacher explained the concept of “infinity” to the class. <br /><br />Imagine moving from point A to point B, but you are only allowed to go half the distance at a time. When you arrive at the first halfway point, you must stop and recalculate the new half point … and on and on and on. You will never arrive at B, because as you move closer to your target, you see how many halfway points there are between you and your target: an infinite number. <br /><br />Wait, what?<br /><br />How could there be a destination that you are approaching, but that seems to keep getting farther away? <br /><br />The concept of achieving greatness reminds me of my elementary school math lesson on infinity. What is greatness, anyway? This alluring, ever-distant word both taunts and inspires athletes. <br /><br />I have a weakness. I never feel like I’m good enough. <br /><br />I’ve set tangible goals throughout my career. And I have attained a lot of them. Still, I’m sure that achieving will never satisfy my hunger to achieve. <br />Last month, Clint Bruce -- former NFL quarterback and Navy Seal Commander -- spoke to the USWNT about what he calls “pursuing elite.” Among the tokens of wisdom and experience he offered, one thing really hit home for me. “Elite is this land that is fit only for the restless,” he told us.<br /><br />While I don’t know if I exist in the land of the elite, I’m definitely on the battlefield with restlessness. My restlessness leaves my mind racing as I try to wind down at the end of mandatory recovery day. It keeps me tossing after poor performances. And if I played well, well…playing well makes me itch to play better; there is always room for improvement. This process can be exhausting.<br /><br />I have a strength. I never feel like I’m good enough.<br /><br />That same discontentment that gets my mind spinning at night puts a spring in my step the next day when our assistant coach Tony screams, “MAX SPRINTS!” during practice. This restless energy ignites my spirit to push forward. The past is not just an indicator of where I was yesterday, but it is also a launching pad for tomorrow. <br /><br />People often tell me before games to “be great” -- as if it is a choice I can make. Is it possible to choose greatness? If it were, I’m pretty sure most of us would choose it. Is greatness only available to a select group? Perhaps, but maybe not for the reasons I used to think.<br /><br />By definition, greatness is a state of superiority: that is, being better than all others. But Clint’s speech has me rethinking this idea. As I listened to him, I realized that “elite” doesn’t mean greatness itself -- but the unwavering pursuit of greatness. That thought is as scary as it is freeing...how much is in my control?<br /><br />When speaking about his early days training to be a Seal, Clint said that he realized he was average. “There were a bunch of Olympic athletes and then there was me.” To make it, he needed angles, allies, and advantages to keep up with the people around him. Anyone can pursue greatness. It is not a club open only to the gifted or lucky. You simply have to train to get better and never give up; checking over your shoulder only to make sure you are not where you started. Clint’s advantage was his unremitting pursuit.<br /><br />I got my first call-up to the USWNT in April of 2012. Before I could exhale in relief – I had made it – I realized this was just the beginning. The USWNT isn’t a place where you celebrate, put down roots, or relax. It isn’t a place at all. Being on this team is an honor as well as a responsibility to my country and myself. Maybe it is another halfway point on the line to greatness: because as long as you can look forward you haven’t arrived. What I do with this opportunity remains to be seen, but I know my success and my team’s success depends on that forward motion. <br /><br />While greatness may always be viewed as a comparison to the outside world: good, better, best; inside, I know what really matters is the relentless fight for progress. Which means it’s only good when I demand better after I’ve done my best. Striving for personal excellence in this way can be like chasing infinity, which is often frustrating. But striving for team greatness is a bit different. Pushing myself is pushing the game and that is the best thing I can do for my team and my sport. As we push ourselves we push each other, raising the average. Rising and falling as a team is ultimately more comfortable and shared success is more gratifying.<br /><br />For the world at large, there is a constant demand to know who or what is the greatest, the best in everything. In soccer, we take measurements in the form of matches every weekend. There are numerous titles to be won. But the end-all, be-all measuring stick will always be the World Cup. Winning the World Cup is that tangible goal that keeps me motivated. But I have to wonder: is a World Cup victory my one and only shot at greatness? It is the pinnacle of football, the reward for a lifetime of work … or is it just another point on the progress line? It’s the one objective that forces me to put my individual goals aside, for the time being, and focus on something much, much bigger than myself. The fact that the opportunity only comes around every four years makes it that much more special. It takes the entire team to win a World Cup, a team that is greater than the sum of its parts. Or rather, a team made up of individuals in pursuit of greatness. <br /><br />Maybe teams can achieve the kind of greatness that eminently eludes the individual. The World Cup Championship freezes time. The winning team’s name and country are recorded in history and maybe that moment when the trophy is hoisted and medal is placed around your neck is as tangible as greatness will ever get.<br /><br />In a math class long after my Lunada Bay Elementary School graduation, I learned that for all intents and purposes, the concept of infinity is not functional. So instead of trying to reach infinity, mathematicians describe what the value is approaching: a limit. With limits, the end point becomes irrelevant and the focus falls on the direction you are moving.<br /><br />The World Cup is the limit. And we’re moving forward. </div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06633982287638051335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9080695675561448571.post-29605205707533464432015-05-26T19:29:00.001-07:002015-05-26T19:32:27.346-07:00Ny Tid Ny Strid<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<!--StartFragment-->
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN"><b>These words come
from one of the wisest and best footballers I’ve ever played alongside. Lisa Ek
was my teammate in 2012 for Kopparberg’s Gothenburg FC. I have loosely
translated this from her Swedish blog.</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span lang="EN"><span style="color: #666666;">When I was six years old, I said that I would become a
professional soccer player in Italy and play for the Swedish national team. My
dream to be on the national team has brought out the best in me in many ways.
I've been training like a madman, I have always been motivated and I have
fought my way back from five years of injuries with rehabilitation. I have
given everything for the team I've played for, partially for selfish reasons--
because I know that if the team feels good and is good, I have a greater chance
of success. I have been traveling all over the world and won matches with
players who have been like a second family to me. In the 26 years of my career
I have truly lived because I have chased my dream. I have met people. Oh what
people! The finest and the best people you could wish for. People who have been
a part of my everyday life, and who are still a big part of my life. And for
that life, I thank the dream.<br />
<br />
<br />
With the dream has come demands on myself. I never thought of it as a
requirement, it just felt natural to run additional sprints every preseason, to
train my eyes by watching my thumb, to do mobility exercises for two hours
every day to optimize performance, to rehab many hours a day during the five
years that I was injured, to analyze all my matches and to constantly search
for new ways and new research that could optimize my performance. I have loved
the journey. I have loved to optimize but for awhile I have had an insight that
I cannot ignore.<br />
<br />
<br />
I can not take more. I have done everything to reach the national team. And
then I did a bit more… but life decided otherwise. I was not destined to reach
all the way. It was the journey that was the goal, and my task was to
demonstrate the benefit of daring to dream.<br />
<br />
<br />
I made a last effort last fall. The year before I had been injured and away
from football for a year and a half. I went into the venture aware that I could
not afford to miss a single workout. Shortly thereafter I injured my hip and
could not take a stride for 10 weeks. My body gave up. Once again I had to
fight myself back just to keep afloat, not to progress. When my other teammates
were lifting weights, I worked hard just to be able to lift my own body…just as
I had done previously, for the five years that I worked hard rehabing, far from
the football field. The only difference was that this time I lost the urge.<br />
<br />
<br />
I can no longer double work… To do extra to keep me afloat and then the extra
premium to optimize. I can not chase performance anymore. Now I just want to
play. And people are playing in other places.<br />
<br />
<br />
I have always believed that the most courageous thing to do is to follow your
dream. I never thought that it required even more courage to let go of a dream
and let another take over. To look at yourself in the mirror and say "damn
good job! You did everything. You made some. And you held out for 26 f***ing
years. It is time to set yourself free!”<br />
<br />
<br />
It feels crappy sad. Bye dream of the national team, have a nice day! There is
an emptiness now and I will certainly feel lost in the beginning when I do not
have the light eminating from the blue and yellow jersey that has led me for so
long.<br />
<br />
<br />
I am painfully aware that I no longer have anything to give or take in the
environment I find myself. To continue here without the dream would be to
continue without momentum. It would be to go to work and collect salary. To be here,
but without optimizing, it's not me. That will never be me. And it is not “Booyah”
against anyone, not the club I represent, my lovely teammates nor myself. After
26 years of struggle I owe myself more than that. I owe it to myself to let my
second dream begin. A dream that for 26 years has stood sideline and watched as
I look like a crazy person directing all my focus towards the national team.
This dream is to play football abroad.<br />
<br />
<br />
I feel selfish because I do not want to leave a team in the middle of the
season but I know deep down that it is the best for everyone and that it would
not be good for anyone to have an Ek without momentum.<br />
<br />
<br />
I know I'm living on borrowed time. After recent knee injury, they said that I
could never get back to the football field. I wander around like I am walking
through a minefield, and I am grateful for every week that I can play football.
When my body breaks down, and that is the end, I want to feel like I have released
myself free and have followed the dreams that I want to follow. That I have
experienced what I want to experience. . . Now, I'm ready for another country, and
I’m hoping another country is ready for me!</span><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN"><b>She says, “I have
always believed that the most courageous thing to do is to follow your dream. I
never thought that it required even more courage to let go of a dream and let
another take over…” Perhaps it is just as courageous to share your story. <o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN"><b><a href="http://ekenskreativa.blogg.se/" target="_blank">View her blog here.</a></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1Flo6iWYCw" target="_blank">From our glory days.</a></b><o:p></o:p></div>
<!--EndFragment--></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06633982287638051335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9080695675561448571.post-15941857939640912722015-05-19T19:18:00.001-07:002015-05-26T19:30:57.617-07:00Caught... In A Moment: A Photo Journey<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<center style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;">
</center>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>This article originally appeared on <a href="http://www.theplayerstribune.com/christen-press-world-cup-us-womens-soccer/" target="_blank">The Player's Tribune.</a> </i></div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBJgcdvMMS0Pt9kC3ohszprY-OyyLRl5l-kn5QOPXtUCPflERRO43_MeHascJUw5N82gWamotOiq3nDoJiuWUysN-7KwvbcZ07VoqJNw8PIyqwsEJZdOR8dfVXdSMRUswZlRxkAFhl8gc/s1600/TPT150501_001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBJgcdvMMS0Pt9kC3ohszprY-OyyLRl5l-kn5QOPXtUCPflERRO43_MeHascJUw5N82gWamotOiq3nDoJiuWUysN-7KwvbcZ07VoqJNw8PIyqwsEJZdOR8dfVXdSMRUswZlRxkAFhl8gc/s640/TPT150501_001.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am always moving.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeZjybLPJDfCAccDMlKBzZnfqqslfQ1-HLxrdkC63uE2imTNV4K8wHbQoOmweC1GaGoFVJPB-KSkM3TbWQCpIwDhQvqvlEkdDohTPJ0HFfMXSENn3InxSom3uHL8FUlhmYvTP3cFiNNAg/s1600/TPT150501_004.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeZjybLPJDfCAccDMlKBzZnfqqslfQ1-HLxrdkC63uE2imTNV4K8wHbQoOmweC1GaGoFVJPB-KSkM3TbWQCpIwDhQvqvlEkdDohTPJ0HFfMXSENn3InxSom3uHL8FUlhmYvTP3cFiNNAg/s640/TPT150501_004.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Pit stops... rest stops... refueling...</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQOV0Cwi_3LgqThCVunKs1NxQ-da71uSRS2CbyonxRmIIAUo5O-k6fqAONH_OX8btKW-HjkmBmmdiigvX4XrifrJg-S6WPpDuE1yk7APdtzTy-_9zmAkLgxEToD1ndDuwc8B0SH5PjxJs/s1600/TPT150501_050.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQOV0Cwi_3LgqThCVunKs1NxQ-da71uSRS2CbyonxRmIIAUo5O-k6fqAONH_OX8btKW-HjkmBmmdiigvX4XrifrJg-S6WPpDuE1yk7APdtzTy-_9zmAkLgxEToD1ndDuwc8B0SH5PjxJs/s640/TPT150501_050.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Trying to fit in.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn2QJL3QBlexOgenrQc796QGrHMrPvqddBFCu0VWcRGOKkoeNtVEQ7xnbxnJJ94Yclbn19omalLutkNQqQF2lUnkxFQxkERo-oPwl4SkOmSO90TBbKtUR6VEGSFyIxHDT17Swy2xS5vZ8/s1600/TPT150501_068.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn2QJL3QBlexOgenrQc796QGrHMrPvqddBFCu0VWcRGOKkoeNtVEQ7xnbxnJJ94Yclbn19omalLutkNQqQF2lUnkxFQxkERo-oPwl4SkOmSO90TBbKtUR6VEGSFyIxHDT17Swy2xS5vZ8/s640/TPT150501_068.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">My lifestyle demands flexibility.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx0UQHLXPWpSWGOxkFyuuIUDfeq5BgOfswdjqMapt3GBiUWkPOcpBssAUwLV8AaYYZCI8H8QzL57AZ9NZrwCSs3VITfuJV1AStSJzjRJAE-Sx8NUwv-lTlmckQaFfKYZDCZUGT4os0_js/s1600/TPT150501_076.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx0UQHLXPWpSWGOxkFyuuIUDfeq5BgOfswdjqMapt3GBiUWkPOcpBssAUwLV8AaYYZCI8H8QzL57AZ9NZrwCSs3VITfuJV1AStSJzjRJAE-Sx8NUwv-lTlmckQaFfKYZDCZUGT4os0_js/s640/TPT150501_076.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And wherever I go...</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTFREEhI-BmO9DXWr5O9tkgJ1mS-ShFhsu5rh1fakgq8NVU2BPL38X3NxJZ6UnjOM2b7anJsWtz7KnyxwoeyaLiUTa1qbb7a2X6Cv1v2-rXIHO_CiSBEm8LAJ8Yo9599RhJes4rjBGX7o/s1600/TPT150501_072.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTFREEhI-BmO9DXWr5O9tkgJ1mS-ShFhsu5rh1fakgq8NVU2BPL38X3NxJZ6UnjOM2b7anJsWtz7KnyxwoeyaLiUTa1qbb7a2X6Cv1v2-rXIHO_CiSBEm8LAJ8Yo9599RhJes4rjBGX7o/s640/TPT150501_072.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">...There I am.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoyvcsRUvx5Deh0eoT0qKqzpU2Pxxe_Iae2LSsMew1C_ELWNByxshk2R2Ak6gO1epfvYfZrGeTHLHV9COoJKTpn6_xnOhxLvz1lxh-kYRJeLwe5jie1D87QXzN-gJb2zSIQwMOsf7gmEA/s1600/TPT150501_154.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="474" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoyvcsRUvx5Deh0eoT0qKqzpU2Pxxe_Iae2LSsMew1C_ELWNByxshk2R2Ak6gO1epfvYfZrGeTHLHV9COoJKTpn6_xnOhxLvz1lxh-kYRJeLwe5jie1D87QXzN-gJb2zSIQwMOsf7gmEA/s640/TPT150501_154.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">With this job, I have the power to do what I want.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI9Fboexz-88_IryMkFjBqEW9VKKm08Nd0lBXz40Rz6-Av8TnkxIDNPpuFWGd6lLTLV759Z4eiQsgPbR-Qs7XmKL24FkSGydQpR_FAT33d6OtLF5qIWOoXjNDqHYw6Z0lrBi3PPfVcz8k/s1600/TPT150501_216.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI9Fboexz-88_IryMkFjBqEW9VKKm08Nd0lBXz40Rz6-Av8TnkxIDNPpuFWGd6lLTLV759Z4eiQsgPbR-Qs7XmKL24FkSGydQpR_FAT33d6OtLF5qIWOoXjNDqHYw6Z0lrBi3PPfVcz8k/s640/TPT150501_216.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">But like everyone else, I get caught up in the fray.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4dZiUuhmJ104K4cGtSaycFRbse4GpR2I-2Zs0pMFO_6WjwwYoDOBK7_dsWjBDpNnhCBuzodvk0eYU2M4OpCi3W1RfUJK2N2WeEaOMpxTC4rT2NDhdLMz59OdfI5fF_Lwcu_c2f0reC_c/s1600/TPT150501_161.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="386" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4dZiUuhmJ104K4cGtSaycFRbse4GpR2I-2Zs0pMFO_6WjwwYoDOBK7_dsWjBDpNnhCBuzodvk0eYU2M4OpCi3W1RfUJK2N2WeEaOMpxTC4rT2NDhdLMz59OdfI5fF_Lwcu_c2f0reC_c/s640/TPT150501_161.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The smiles you see...</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqpbLR3-_VYMVhjs_5dEL6maHzXBP49uo1DgWIW71jegXbKDzUbY8pBkjZMkozYtOWSgpTufm0z64ZxCTwumArPYoXGzQ5KX4yNev7vPnnwK9sCn7X0hviGhCIFREUI2q3R_QIUmpruZQ/s1600/TPT150501_231.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqpbLR3-_VYMVhjs_5dEL6maHzXBP49uo1DgWIW71jegXbKDzUbY8pBkjZMkozYtOWSgpTufm0z64ZxCTwumArPYoXGzQ5KX4yNev7vPnnwK9sCn7X0hviGhCIFREUI2q3R_QIUmpruZQ/s640/TPT150501_231.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Well, they come at a cost.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLgjlbRapfri3OTq0hdN-qPIGxhIhsCH-LIhAdwKzeIJwE4HZYykkL4nGRXyrzEi7zVALeuU6cBPFK3VMjW_geGg5SAIXSVxU4kBpOG33ylm_tpf09CE8ii-RpQBMaBPsordNRxcNHfQU/s1600/TPT150501_027.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLgjlbRapfri3OTq0hdN-qPIGxhIhsCH-LIhAdwKzeIJwE4HZYykkL4nGRXyrzEi7zVALeuU6cBPFK3VMjW_geGg5SAIXSVxU4kBpOG33ylm_tpf09CE8ii-RpQBMaBPsordNRxcNHfQU/s640/TPT150501_027.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Behind closed doors, the work begins</span>.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyoT_L1jmUmcu-yEsCIRCCd5Cy7I0qpJSc4Dymz2jS8kF0tWgs2ZddCkvAnleGNJlY5FTvmF7k3X6F3S-Q_TTrlQkBtqn6EyZ9i-V9KP-oU7lL2kfu_7HSsS8MYdDFHVO0H7vasBJXquk/s1600/TPT150501_333.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyoT_L1jmUmcu-yEsCIRCCd5Cy7I0qpJSc4Dymz2jS8kF0tWgs2ZddCkvAnleGNJlY5FTvmF7k3X6F3S-Q_TTrlQkBtqn6EyZ9i-V9KP-oU7lL2kfu_7HSsS8MYdDFHVO0H7vasBJXquk/s640/TPT150501_333.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">With the people and places I love far, far away...</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl_8ZKs99FiwHkjk7ANqO0wf_9ELBJxzL5x6_dkkf7rY6dThGofD7Jyl6xtDS8p0p1lsmnZVP2ph6OqfYj11Jc01_xEWyfdxAroylolTS6CgcDQmRyYFr6MTfxKn5KH-Cu_wQXwlhrPIU/s1600/TPT150501_303.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl_8ZKs99FiwHkjk7ANqO0wf_9ELBJxzL5x6_dkkf7rY6dThGofD7Jyl6xtDS8p0p1lsmnZVP2ph6OqfYj11Jc01_xEWyfdxAroylolTS6CgcDQmRyYFr6MTfxKn5KH-Cu_wQXwlhrPIU/s640/TPT150501_303.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">New friends and favorites begin to surface.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZCYbx2zhKIeYDPqFMRrHppcx5oW8Eg-eN8Q6ZPxnlmC3wAIPX-xTity3xftlfis7Xmf0aQ2o9MmTItlPYgnxFWXiCd53Ey90fhloCE8EsynB_bduT4xU_ue8IFmyY-UHxFSywXSmRGl8/s1600/TPT150501_330.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZCYbx2zhKIeYDPqFMRrHppcx5oW8Eg-eN8Q6ZPxnlmC3wAIPX-xTity3xftlfis7Xmf0aQ2o9MmTItlPYgnxFWXiCd53Ey90fhloCE8EsynB_bduT4xU_ue8IFmyY-UHxFSywXSmRGl8/s640/TPT150501_330.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Just in time to leave again.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGsntlEMOv7jcpVEI_j-gbG7xYdyiB7DQZvS4Wc3qCrAcAhjQhyQoBgeWnrzBYDrYS4SYMS84X3Yd36voMDPLjhp3f9ghO2yB5FqVKvGrPWXHvgMHX9ZJprDrlgiaGJJtEtO8Kf0Wz8NM/s1600/TPT150501_326.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGsntlEMOv7jcpVEI_j-gbG7xYdyiB7DQZvS4Wc3qCrAcAhjQhyQoBgeWnrzBYDrYS4SYMS84X3Yd36voMDPLjhp3f9ghO2yB5FqVKvGrPWXHvgMHX9ZJprDrlgiaGJJtEtO8Kf0Wz8NM/s640/TPT150501_326.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Wash. Rinse. Repeat. </span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpaoxRtbAo2zWUj6tweQ9MHVww295s3GtZrs0WJmKF7wMMkqrJRLgyNUVqy9pPfeRXC9NQv9sSpsCdDW_4iZaOK95jRafDLduyIuPvffpbBklxtZj_yqstzyrCfaj8YFKnfbuuh4ipgRI/s1600/TPT150501_012.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpaoxRtbAo2zWUj6tweQ9MHVww295s3GtZrs0WJmKF7wMMkqrJRLgyNUVqy9pPfeRXC9NQv9sSpsCdDW_4iZaOK95jRafDLduyIuPvffpbBklxtZj_yqstzyrCfaj8YFKnfbuuh4ipgRI/s640/TPT150501_012.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But I've learned to bring the things I need with me.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyIvMq7HWhoNBxZ3cllIQtrhfS0a88iSMa2fSeNzo0Y23qANGfkD0_8zbLSNC7cxsKEa9AJ4Z7anlcGJDH1ddAYwUeZJLUBaZyJsgmMSwKlTwqf2FGZikMeDAJU4_iXHfW7F1Rh6dp22c/s1600/TPT150501_126.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyIvMq7HWhoNBxZ3cllIQtrhfS0a88iSMa2fSeNzo0Y23qANGfkD0_8zbLSNC7cxsKEa9AJ4Z7anlcGJDH1ddAYwUeZJLUBaZyJsgmMSwKlTwqf2FGZikMeDAJU4_iXHfW7F1Rh6dp22c/s640/TPT150501_126.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My calm. My commitment. My game.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt4C0D9v650GBKjcXwCCQOuHK2f1OXtMDLSw5qN1qduI0yzxNc9bCSi_fRt1o7qS1yDM6OtY27sUpRlKOKwVJz4QBWFfcx1Wyv_GhYcclqjEBSpdwOGxhEKsi7sXNs85ifaiuIeTIBXY0/s1600/TPT150501_345.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt4C0D9v650GBKjcXwCCQOuHK2f1OXtMDLSw5qN1qduI0yzxNc9bCSi_fRt1o7qS1yDM6OtY27sUpRlKOKwVJz4QBWFfcx1Wyv_GhYcclqjEBSpdwOGxhEKsi7sXNs85ifaiuIeTIBXY0/s640/TPT150501_345.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Wherever I go, there I am.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06633982287638051335noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9080695675561448571.post-39897430121714015682014-07-22T18:05:00.000-07:002014-07-22T18:13:59.425-07:00The Chicago Daily News<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"><b><span style="color: #660000;">[[THE PITCH]]</span></b> Growing up, one of my dad’s favorite expressions was the
complement, “She always brings her lunch pail.” The phrase, with roots in
American football, tips its hat to the blue-collar workers who were so hard
working that they barely took time for lunch. So, “On Any Given Sunday” right before
I took the field, my dad would nudge me, “You better bring your lunch pail!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">Football has brought me back across the Atlantic into
the heartland of the USA, and I am awe struck by the impressiveness of Chicago.
Always an explorer at heart, relocating here has made me not only a member of
the Chicago Red Stars, but also, an excited and happy tourist. I’ve spent my
first month trying to figure out what it means to be a Red Star as well as a
Chicagoan, and I’m starting to think the identities are not too different. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS6EG74eOFYgNkzLuxx_pgC7sjl5T2CMXva2PZf52lud9uUVsPclB0SExvaeDIaU0OFfNhmgBk74lRshFx9rLmxprERvcPBZqxVEnYXYZAkcvrRMFfvUhhKsn1zVVYuuNkxUjgJf5X_Do/s1600/img_1402.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS6EG74eOFYgNkzLuxx_pgC7sjl5T2CMXva2PZf52lud9uUVsPclB0SExvaeDIaU0OFfNhmgBk74lRshFx9rLmxprERvcPBZqxVEnYXYZAkcvrRMFfvUhhKsn1zVVYuuNkxUjgJf5X_Do/s1600/img_1402.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">On my first day here, they handed me my CRS jersey,
and a few minutes later I found myself comfortably cloaked in Chicago’s city
flag. <i>I have to admit it was an upgrade from the Ronald McDonald costume we
rocked on my last team. </i></span><span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><i>J</i></span><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"><i> </i>With red stars lined across the chest, the jersey
links the team to the city’s blue-collar core and the student in me wanted to
know how. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">The four stars on the flag represent significant events,
two tragedies and two triumphs, in Chicago’s history. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">One of the stars on our jersey symbolizes the Chicago
fire of 1871. While most people know about the destruction of this devastating
disaster, many have no idea what happened next. Faced with the enormity of
debris from the fire, the people of Chicago pushed tons of rubble into Lake
Michigan, creating a landfill, which is now the foundation of Grant Park. Walking
through this beautiful lakefront public property, alive with museums, grassy
fields, bike trails, and amphitheaters, I can’t help but think about the concept
of repurposing for the greater good. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcqPWJrpKq710hbbyroKslTmgFqII4T48FCEulD4VIvKjv9UTbxcfwp0mvYpAcNeMR49CPx5SOz89HhnApt0VdWUw24qtCFL7zGJad0DrAaQ5pwJqJV_22PrCMRlTSge9CbHR6jT4m5Vk/s1600/christen.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcqPWJrpKq710hbbyroKslTmgFqII4T48FCEulD4VIvKjv9UTbxcfwp0mvYpAcNeMR49CPx5SOz89HhnApt0VdWUw24qtCFL7zGJad0DrAaQ5pwJqJV_22PrCMRlTSge9CbHR6jT4m5Vk/s1600/christen.png" /></a><span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">The flag commemorates the persevering spirit of the
city, a spirit very much alive in my new team. It seems to be the signature of
a team for whom, last season, led the league in comebacks and goals after the
80<sup>th</sup> minute. We are headed to a similar stat this year: in four of
my first six games, we have come back from a deficit to steal points.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">Playing in Europe for three seasons has equipped me
with some new tools, and I was excited to come back to the US and try them out.
While my first few NWSL games don’t compare to the great Chicago fire, I will
say that they left me a little singed. After just a few minutes on the field,
it was clear that the tempo and style of play were quite different here, and I
struggled to figure out the timing and movements. Is it possible I am a
foreigner in my own country? Practices were frustrating. <i>I considered chucking my “tools” into Lake Michigan. Or maybe it
was me who needed a dip in the icy lake. In
the end, I got my wake up call from a more gentle water source!<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt;"><i>***<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFP4j5CsHGcZbJ51YC51i9yYFwbEuRzuvFbrSSS3PtCfnRCTP7zTNrwNH4T4zm5SPho48grUDjx9ApomnxTqvWZzKiD9R-CTxF7qvAtSySE8ngsnVSTee6v8kJIvRoeEiufYc_fDb81Vs/s1600/IMG_1388.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFP4j5CsHGcZbJ51YC51i9yYFwbEuRzuvFbrSSS3PtCfnRCTP7zTNrwNH4T4zm5SPho48grUDjx9ApomnxTqvWZzKiD9R-CTxF7qvAtSySE8ngsnVSTee6v8kJIvRoeEiufYc_fDb81Vs/s1600/IMG_1388.JPG" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">When I wake up every morning, I look out my window at the
tranquil flowing turquois water of the Chicago River. The guides on the Chicago
Signature Tour have revealed that it wasn’t always so beautiful. As a young
city, the river was contaminated with sewage and industrial waste. In 1900, through the ingenuity of a civil
engineer they changed the direction of the river water to flow away from Lake
Michigan toward the Mississippi River. Today, I’m told it is one of the
cleanest city rivers in the country. To find a solution, sometimes you need to
change your way of thinking, and sometimes changing your way <i>is</i> the solution. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">When you visit Chicago today, you see a dazzling
skyline of architectural masterpieces jutting out of a sophisticated metropolitan
center. Amazing as it is, it’s the knowledge of all the work that is buried
below the surface that has inspired me.<b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">Maybe, for now, I need to worry less about my toolbox
and get back to focusing my lunch pail. After all, Grant Park didn’t build
itself. The wreckage was carried and transformed by the hard working team of
people that is Chicago. The result is pretty magnificent. My new team is
a young team, and if we are going to build something great together, we are
going to have to put in the hard work… show a little patience… and for me: consider
a change of direction.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06633982287638051335noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9080695675561448571.post-49312942963172301162014-06-17T13:58:00.000-07:002014-07-22T18:13:49.803-07:00The Swan Song.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span id="docs-internal-guid-ec18ac99-ab88-ad0a-867a-99e362ec43d8" style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #660000;">[[THE PITCH]]</span></b><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;"> “Now wakes the Owl…Now sleeps the swan...Behold the dream…The dream is gone.” -Pink Floyd.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">I have never been less excited to write a blog post. After two and a half years sharing stories about my journey through Sweden as a professional footballer, how could I possibly skip over the biggest game of my career and the final goodbye? Well, other than a country western composer, who wants to write about a heartbreak? That is what May brought: a heartbreaking loss in the Champions League Final and and sad ending to the best chapter of my soccer life.</span></div>
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<span id="docs-internal-guid-ec18ac99-ab88-ad0a-867a-99e362ec43d8"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It seems that my journey in Sweden led me to this final...Falling in love with the city of Gothenburg...and then giving it up to surround myself with some of the best players in the game... Then... falling in love with Stockholm and the small suburb of Tyresö. Losing titles and teammates and friends... Struggling to stay afloat amongst a sinking ship that once was one of the top clubs in the world in the midst of an exciting Champions League run. So many games leading to that final game. Hello Lisbon…Goodbye Sweden! </span></span></div>
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<span id="docs-internal-guid-ec18ac99-ab88-ad0a-867a-99e362ec43d8"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I've played in finals before. Heck, it's been 4 USYSA Club Championships, 2 CIF High School Championships, 2 NCAA Championships, 2 SuperCups, and one Swedish Cup... The experience of playing in those games I’ve carried with me, but in the preview of the CL Final, they seemed like recreational games. There is something about a final. In this tournament, where in each round you're given 180 minutes with each opponent, the likelihood that the better side will advance is increased. But there is just one shooting star 90 minute final, where anything you can imagine can happen. And, for us, on that day, the unimaginable did.</span></span></div>
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<span id="docs-internal-guid-ec18ac99-ab88-ad0a-867a-99e362ec43d8"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We stole the first half with certainty and flair, but we played at just 75% of our capacity, giving away too many balls and with a palpable tension in our game. Still, it was more than enough. We had the majority of possession and when we ran at their back line, it seemed to dismantle them. We went up 2-0 on Marta and Vero goals.</span></span></div>
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<span id="docs-internal-guid-ec18ac99-ab88-ad0a-867a-99e362ec43d8"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Half two was a whirlwind. They scored a great goal within the first two minutes and we took it like a punch in the gut. Deflated, we tried to keep the pieces together and defend our lead. Marta and I switched spots as she was nursing a hamstring strain, and out of position, we lost our pressure on their back line. As much as the first goal against rattled us, it was nothing compared to the second. In just 10 minutes, we lost our lead and all of our confidence. I looked at the faces of my teammates. We had so much experience on the field, but faces seemed stricken with panic. So many our fittest players began to cramp halfway through that half. It was chaos. </span></span></div>
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<span id="docs-internal-guid-ec18ac99-ab88-ad0a-867a-99e362ec43d8"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Against the run of play now, we scored to make it 3-2! We encouraged each other. Fight back!! It's our game now!!! We did fight, but it wasn't our game at all. Minutes later our right back Meghan Klingenberg went down with a charley horse turned total leg cramp. We played the ball out of bounds so she could get medical attention. While the play was stopped, Tony subbed our right forward Malin Diaz out for Madde Edlund, but nobody came in for Meg. Wolfsburg threw the ball in and went straight up our right side to their unmarked forward: 3-3. </span></span></div>
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<span id="docs-internal-guid-ec18ac99-ab88-ad0a-867a-99e362ec43d8"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When their forward scored the final goal unmarked inside the six yard box with just ten minutes to go, we didn't give up, we kept fighting until the end...until it was over. I was in shock because it was so little about soccer and so much about emotions. After everything we had been through, this was not how it was supposed to end. Yes, Wolfsburg deserved to win. They were resilient, strong, and tactically smart. As they raised the cup under a downpour of confetti I thought: soccer is a cruel, cruel game. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I've tried really hard the last few years to be less attached to winning. I would like to fight as hard as I possibly can in each and every game, and win or lose, leave it at that and move forward. I know in my heart that that is the mindset I need to be a successful and happy athlete. But still, I knew that this game had taken a piece of me. With the team ending and my time in Europe over, it is a piece that I will not get back. Once again, I looked into the stands, and there they were: my mom, dad, and sisters, where they always are: on their feet, clapping their hands, and crying. In the end, I'm the same girl I was when I was 14, just wanting to make them proud. I saw my dad take out his handkerchief. A few hours later, as my family held me in their arms, through a flood of tears, I thanked them for coming to all of these heartbreaking finals. I assured them that one day we were going to win...and there was comfort in knowing that they are foolish enough to keep coming back...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Just two days later we were expected to fly home and play against our toughest Swedish rival: FC Rosengård (formerly know as FC Malmö.) So that's exactly what we did. For some of us: me, Meg, Whit, Vero, and Seger, this would be our last game with the team and a sort of send off... A swan song. For the rest, not knowing just what the future held at the club made the game totally meaningless. After our embarrassing loss, what would have been the biggest game of our Damalsvenskan season now seemed dimly lit. There was no motivation to play. Points didn't matter as we suspected that we wouldn't finish out league. We weren't getting paid. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What actually happened was a reminder of everything I love about athletics.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Our team-- broken bodies and spirit-- played exactly how we wanted everyone to remember us. Two days after a strain and cramps in the final, I watched Lisa Dahlkvist make tackles and spray balls like few other women players can. I witnessed in awe, Vero, who had not practiced in a month due to injury, play the second of two back-to-back battles, picking up balls and unchaining Malmö's defense at full speed. And me? I was re-invigorated by the freedom of playing solely for the love of the game. I never felt more confident on the field. My heart insisted that we would end this on a happy note. And so, tied 1-1 in the 85th minute, when I shot from range, empowered by my team’s display of courage and integrity, I knew, the moment it left my foot, it was going in. After the ball whipped right and brushed the back of the net, the team huddled together one last time. In the corner of my eye, I saw Tony unabashedly celebrating on the sidelines.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Now, a few weeks later, I can hardly remember the Wolfsburg game. When people ask me what happened, I struggle find the words. But these final images of my teammates overcoming against all odds stay with me and continue to inspire me.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Was it redemption for our loss? Not even close. But perhaps it was something bigger than that. Since then, the club has pulled out of Damallsvenskan, all of the players were released as free agents, and all of our results deleted from the standings. Still, that final ultimately meaningless performance is what the beautiful game is all about for me: getting back in the ring and fighting the next fight...with style and class. I used to think that losing titles made me a loser... But as I packed my life back into my luggage, I knew that although I was losing everything-- not just the title, but also my team, my training environment, my life, my friends--- I had won something more.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hej då.</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06633982287638051335noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9080695675561448571.post-17337780322608407482014-05-07T16:21:00.003-07:002014-07-22T18:15:59.246-07:00Tony, Trust, and Titles<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="color: #990000;"><b>[The Pitch]</b></span> It's the morning of the semifinal and I've woken up with knots in my stomach. I can hardly remember the last time I was actually nervous for a game, but I'm relieved I was able to sleep through the night. The first leg of this semifinal ended 0-0 in Birmingham, and now we lay just 90 minutes and one goal away from a dream final in Lisbon. Yesterday reporters asked me, "Do you feel pressure as the favorite?" "Yes." "How does it make you feel that if you don't win, you pack of your bags and leave?" "Stressed." "Do you believe that this team can really win?" 'Absolutely, but a football is round, and if I've learned anything this year it is that not everything is in my control..." 'What has Tony told the team?" "Find a way..."</center>
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I was told that, in his first meeting as head coach of Tyresö FF in July 2012, Tony Gustavsson's words were about , "…the road to Lisbon." Taking the team halfway through the season, Tony led the Yellow and Red to a Damallsvenskan title, and with it clinched a place in the subsequent Champions League. During the winter window, he signed just two additional players, and I was one of them.</center>
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In an interview he said that I was “the perfect complement” to one of the most talented midfield lines in the game. After playing a year under Törbjorn Nilsson at KGFC (see <a href="http://footballschristenpress.blogspot.com/2012/06/o-captain-my-captain.html" target="_blank">Oh Captain My Captain</a>!), I had fine-tuned the nuances of running behind a backline, which Tony hoped would add a new dimension to his possession style team.</center>
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In my first full team meeting in 2013, Tony, smiling, introduced "the fabulous four"-- his nickname for the four titles we were gunning for that season: Super Cup, Swedish Cup, Damallsvesnkan, Champions League. The expectations were high, and our hopes even higher. TheFab4 came to an abrupt end even before it began. In our first official match of the season, we lost to my old club KGFC in penalties of the SuperCup final. Tony brought the team together after the penalty shoot out. He wanted us to keep our heads up and feet moving forward. It was in that moment that I first noticed what makes Tony stand out as a coach. He was truly a part of the team. Instead of being disappointed or angry at us, he felt the game, our anger, and our disappointment with us. The loss marked the beginning of a season that would take us, as a team, through "Hell and high water."</center>
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It was difficult coming on to a team that had just won the title. It seemed there was nowhere to go but down. At the first sign of trouble I wondered if my teammates were thinking that they were better off without me. I would play alongside some of the biggest names and games in football. I awkwardly struggled to fit into yet another unfamiliar system and a team that rarely played balls into the space behind (where I had trained hard to become most comfortable finding them.) I felt my team was frustrated and unable to understand me. Our 2013 Damallsvenskan campaign seemed plagued by setbacks. The team rarely had the space to play Tony's preferred TikiTaka style. Against Tyresö, teams had learned how to sit in--what in Sweden they refer to as "parking the bus." We underperformed, we dropped points, and in the end we hardly challenged Malmö for the title.</center>
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I remember a practice at the beginning of last year when I woke up feeling a little dizzy. I went through the motions at training, and instead of my usual post practice shooting regimen, I rushed off the field to rest and rehydrate. Tony met me in the parking lot after the training. He had noticed that something was off and wanted to know if there was something he could do to help me through days like these. I told him that I felt a little off, physically. I saw him checking my face, wondering if I was the type of player to make excuses.</center>
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Trust is THE quality in a great football team. In trust, a team finds the patience, the strength, the quality, and the magic. The team creates chances and must trust the forward to finish them. For me, no trust means no chances, which means no confidence. As we struggled through that Damallsvenskan season, I worried that I was not earning the trust of my teammates and of Tony. This insecurity stayed with me through countless trainings where we worked tirelessly at wing play, and I felt completely unnoticed and uninvolved standing alone in the middle of the park.</center>
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After dropping the SuperCup and the league title, it was clear all of our eggs were purple and white (CL colors) and sitting in one basket. Big wins against PSG and Fortuna in the first two rounds of Champions League restored some faith and lifted our spirits.</center>
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When I arrived back to preseason this winter, I had set a clear goal to help build trust within this team. I thought we were the best team in the world, but we hadn't played like it... Maybe we really didn't know it or believe it. I wondered how I could give our team confidence and earn their trust during preseason without any official games to prove ourselves?</center>
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I’ve found that trust, respect, and confidence are built from the bottom up, brick by brick...ball by ball. It is a culmination of subtle nods of encouragement and high fives and smiles. The outside world had seen us fail, losing the title. They wrote, "How can a team that couldn't win their league win Champions? But only we, our team, had seen the brilliant save our goalkeeper made in 5v5. And many of our clever combination plays are unknown to the outside world buried under the preseason snow of a remote and small, Swedish suburb.</center>
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Tackle after tackle, shot after shot, through turmoil and chaos, media drama and bankruptcy, we showed each other what we were made of while nobody else was watching. Sure, scoring a big goal in a big game can help you gain the attention of the world. But fame can be fleeting and forgetful. You're only as good as your last game. Trust, however, built slowly within a team does not waver with a mistake or a missed chance.</center>
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In the final training before our home leg against Birmingham, I had a great practice. One of those trainings where everything you touch ends up in the back of the net and you play with freedom and power and fearlessness. Instead of my usual post practice shooting regimen, I rushed off the field to rest and rehydrate... After all, tomorrow was the big game! Once again, Tony met me in the parking lot. A year’s time had passed since our last encounter here, and I wondered if he, too, remembered it. This time, there was no quizzical look on his face. And no words were exchanged; just a smile and a pat on the back before we got in our cars and drove away...</center>
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I feel the trust we have built as a team every day when Tony smiles at us. He's always smiling, and I mean always. He screams at us during games and has to deliver us the worst news about the clubs financial situation, but he still ends his words with a flash of teeth. The sparkle of hope in his eyes never seems to fade. And lately it's grown bigger and brighter as we creep closer to our semifinal.</center>
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Tony shows up to the locker room dressed 'to the nines.' The team requested that he wear a game day suit to our home semifinal leg, so he wears it with a smile. When he walks in, he bubbles over with excitement. We all smile back. He has told us so many times before that he wishes he could be out there on the field playing and battling with us, but he doesn't say it today. Like always, his facial expression says it all: your best is good enough! But this time, we already know!</center>
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<b><span style="color: #990000;">[Stoppage Time]</span></b></center>
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0': Birgmingham made this a battle on and off the field. After our first leg tie, they mocked us in the media, announcing fake injuries and even saying, "Where was Marta? In Chelsea Weston's back pocket." As the kickoff whistle blew, the war began. The last image in my head was the ball's logo: Final Lisbon 2014.</center>
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25': Every scoreless minute that passed was a minute lost for us and won by them. In high-stake games like this, missed chances have the opposite effect than normal for the dominating team. Instead of providing energy (since we are knocking on the door), the evidence works adversely to make it seem that the odds are stacked against you. Still, we play on.</center>
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45': Our halftime locker room is never loud and energetic with HBO pump up talks... or yelling... or fist pumps. We rest and we talk tactics. I, however, was deep in thoughts of a mathematical nature, "135' have gone by and still scoreless." </center>
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50': Hand ball in the box: penalty kick! As Marta steps up to take it, she's accompanied by Birmingham's captain whispering sweet nothings in her ear like: "you're gonna choke! You think you're the best player in the world?" As the ball sailed over the cross bar the stadium was silent.</center>
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60': Our midfielder Vero Boquete picks up the ball in the center of the pitch and turns. She's been riddled with injury through most of preseason and struggled to show her true colors. As soon as she turns toward the goal, I know she's there. As I watch her dribble up the field I think, nobody in the world wants to win more than us. She lets one rip and it shakes the entire goal as it bounces off the crossbar. The mental clock in my head tells me that we have 10-15 minutes to score before the game will turn into utter chaos. We play on...</center>
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70': Our 20 year old, 5' tall midfielder Malin Diaz gets the ball. No matter how many times she does one of her signature turns, it never ceases to amaze me how quickly she can change direction. She slips a ball past two final defenders, and the rest is a blur to me. Right foot, left foot and I watch the ball slow roll past the goalkeeper into the far post.</center>
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91': We are winning 2-0 and I feel so powerful as we pass the ball around Birgmingham with control and freedom. I decide to give it one last max sprint and take the ball charging at midfield. I find Marta and she finds me back. 1-2. The first and only English word from her mouth on the field escapes: "Wait." As she sprints passed the back line, I pass her the ball behind the defense, and it's over. When we huddle around her in celebration, she's crying. She looks at me and says, "Thank you." And that is the proudest moment of my soccer career.</center>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06633982287638051335noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9080695675561448571.post-58814240045292562102014-03-31T20:03:00.000-07:002014-04-02T20:35:50.730-07:00Rekunstruktion<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="color: #990000;"><b>[The Pitch]</b></span> <o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="color: #999999;"><o:p> </o:p>Late Morning, 19March 2014</span></div>
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<i>Bankrutt</i> is the only word I
recognize as I scan <i>Aftonbladet</i>, a larger Swedish daily newspaper, reporting
headline news. My club team Tyresö declared bankruptcy and was folding only two
days before our Champions League Quarterfinal. We step off the field after our
best training session of the season when the Twitter notifications begin to
buzz on our phones. I look frantically around the locker room trying to
understand, but the Swedish mixed with panic confuses me. I knew the club was
meeting with the Swedish federal government that day, but I thought it was at
15:00. I check the clock: 11:30. The only thing clear is that the energy that
sprung from a post-practice high has quickly depleted. Everyone is as
confused and scared as <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">I am</span>. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Then, we receive an email from the club
promising that the information reported by all of the major Swedish
publications about our demise was, in fact, wrong. <i>Well, it wasn’t the only
time these publications had reported false information (I though</i>t<i> you
could go to jail for that in Sweden. Darn that Girl With the Dragon Tattoo!)</i>.
The decision about whether our team would continue via a government bailout—which
in Sweden they call <i>rekonstruktion</i>—or if we fold would, indeed, be
made in court, at 15:00. When the manager comes into the locker room a few
minutes later, all he can muster is to say<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">,</span> to a team based in one of the least religious countries in the
world, “Just go home and pray to God.” <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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This wasn’t the first message I had
received from the club about a “financial crisis.” The first came late last
summer. There had been some unexplained mix up, and they had asked all of the
players who had a "free car" stipulated in their contract to please
pay the car taxes. Taxes, to the tune of a few hundred thousand dollars, which
they had unknowingly owed for the last three years. <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">We</span> did not pay. Another message came
during the end-of-the-year meetings, when many players were asked to accept pay
cuts or to agree to play for less than they had already signed for the
following year. On payday in February of this year, we were informed that our
salaries would be a few days late…and, “Thank you for your patience.” A few
days turned into a few weeks and a few more empty promises... Finally, we
understood that the club was in debt totaling $1.5 million and filing for <i>rekonstruktion</i>. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Garamond; mso-bidi-font-size: 19.0pt;"><span style="color: #999999;">Early Afternoon, 19March 2014 </span></span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Garamond; mso-bidi-font-size: 19.0pt;">We must wait three hours before the court
settles and seals our fate. I observe how each of us handles stress so
differently. Some sit silently, some move and chatter non-stop to distract
themselves. Some yell, while others make jokes. I, personally, have been
through each of these reactions, but recognizing and accepting the complete
loss of control over the situation acts to calm me… </span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Garamond; mso-bidi-font-size: 19.0pt;">On the drive home from practice, I
thought about some of the moments that had passed since joining this club. I
remembered the stress I felt before playing the Champions League match against
PSG, knowing that if we lost, my time in Sweden would be over. I thought about
the fight to continue to play in Sweden in 2014 amid the success of NWSL at
home in the USA. I thought about the friends I had made on this team and the
ones I had lost as the team continued to shuffle players. I thought about the
rumors that circulated the week before that we would not be able to play our
Cup match, as the club did not have the money to pay for our one-hour bus ride.
And I even had to smile thinking about the fast food from McDonalds we ate
after that game to celebrate our 2-0 victory over Eskistuna. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Thank you dollar menu!</i> All of us had
reached our personal “limit,” yet we were still all here. Up until that
moment, all of the drama seemed to play out in the background, with barely any
information or communication coming directly from the club to the players. We
acted blissfully unaware, but were consumed with the worry of our suspicions.
With what little we did know, we managed to stick together as underfunded
players and staff, united in our frustration against a club that was lying to
us. </span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Under the <i>rekonstruktion</i> assessment process, however, the media had gained access to a lot of the club’s
information, including salaries. <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">There
were only a few minutes separating the apology email we, received from the club
and the tweets with links t</span>o articles headlining things such as: Tax
Money Goes to Foreign Football Stars. The media attacked from every angle, and
our inboxes were inundated with incendiary questions like, "Do you really
think you are worth 10x the value of your teammate?” or, “Is your small salary
a correct depiction of how much you contribute to the club?” All the while, the
publications had released incorrect information that further sensationalized
the situation. They published what players were owed in February as if it were
their monthly salary, not noting that some players were owed bonuses and
reimbursements (spanning back to 2013) and others were owed less because they
had reported into camp later, thus working fewer days. That was just another
blow, but one that began to break through the thinning flesh of our team. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Garamond; mso-bidi-font-size: 19.0pt;"><span style="color: #999999;">Late afternoon, 19March 2014</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Garamond; mso-bidi-font-size: 19.0pt;">The phone beeps loudly and these words flash across my screen: </span>"We are f'ing alive." I hold my breath as I read the news from our captain and just like that, we are back in the game!</div>
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<br /></div>
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Legally, when the federal government
accepted <i>rekonstruktion</i> it meant that they would provide the club
with money to stay afloat through June. The government will pay the players and
coaching staff’s salaries at a maximum of 170,000kronor per person (approximately
$30,000) over a four-month period. In June, the club will be required to have
the money to repay the government and take over all club costs going forward.
If the individual maximum salary is reached before June, then it is the club’s
responsibility to pay that player or coach. Before the first government payment
had reached our bank accounts for February's past due salaries, Tyresö would
need to have enough money to begin taking over the highest paid players'
salaries. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Garamond; mso-bidi-font-size: 19.0pt;">We all feel lucky to still have a team. Everyday
begins and ends with a question mark, and that makes us uncomfortable as well
as gives us perspective. Nothing in life is a given. Still, every time I
receive an email from the club, I cringe. Some days, I can see the energy
leaking from the team during our long and tedious meetings about finances and
logistics, but other days, we laugh together. When we have a great training it
feels twice as great because we know we are playing against the odds. As a
team, we are winning the biggest game we will ever play: staying united in the
face of adversity; staying honest in the midst of corruption; surviving
together without greed and without blame. I'm not surprised that our little
family is closer than ever. </span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Garamond; mso-bidi-font-size: 19.0pt;">When I step on the field, I don’t think
about the club that wronged and embarrassed us, I think about how proud I am to
stand alongside this group of players and staff. Our goals now include <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">the</span> resolve to show up to work each
day…mostly with a smile, even without a pay-check<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">...</span>for each other and for the love of the game. </span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Garamond; mso-bidi-font-size: 19.0pt;"><b><span style="color: #990000;">[Stoppage Time] </span></b></span>We had waited five months for the whistle
to blow to commence this quarterfinal match. Just two days before, we
thought that our Austrian opponent Neulengbach would have a free pass to the
semifinal. But there we were, 11
girls on the pitch, my parents in the stands, everyone grateful for the place
in which we stood. Maybe
all of the pent up anger and frustration served as fuel, as we shot out
like a rocket launched at Cape
Canaveral. And after just 35 seconds I found myself relishing the energized embraces of a
post goal celebration. It was the first of eight goals we would score that
Sunday to all but guarantee a
place in the semifinals. During the game we had some brilliant
moments, the collective work of a team that loves to play and plays together. But
despite the scoreboard and the highlight reel, I left the field knowing it was
not a championship winning performance. I
cannot suppress the urge to scrutinize and criticize in the exact moment when
everything seems great and easy. But as these thoughts transpired in my
head, I walked into the locker
room with a smile stretched
across my face. For the first time in a long time, I didn’t think about money or how on earth I would tell my parents
to cancel their travel plans. I
was thinking about football. Order was
restored and we'd won. </div>
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<br /></div>
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<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wym3h24HnD4" target="_blank">Champions League QF Highlights</a></div>
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<span style="color: #990000;"><b>[Off the Post<i><span style="font-size: large;">!</span></i>] </b></span> Our away leg
sent us to the classical music capitol of the world: Vienna. And as usual, The
Utfarts followed. Let me backtrack a bit. My parents renamed our family
The Utfarts on a previous trip to Sweden. We are quite the motley crew in the
US. Add jet lag, language barriers, and a stick shift and you have The Utfarts.
The tag name was born when my sisters, parents, and my grandmother got lost
inside a parking garage and everyone started to yell at my father: Just follow
the utfart! (Utfart means exit in Swedish.)</div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Garamond; mso-bidi-font-size: 19.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Now as I was
saying, Mama and Papa Utfart were excited for their trip and couldn't wait to
absorb the history left behind by Bethoven, Struass, Mozart, and the likes. Unfortunately,
it took them almost all day to just locate Bethoven’s Memorial on the map
written in German, so they were unable to snap a shot along side Wolfgang
Amadeus Mozart. On the way back from sightseeing they came across Motzart souvenir
shop and it reminded them of one of their favorite stories. In the late 1980’s,
Falco’s Rock Me Amadeus was a number one hit in the US. My parents were
dancing to the song at a club in NYC when they heard their close friend singing
along. "Rock me hot potato!" And they fell out laughing. Now, 30
years later in the middle of their tour of Austria's capitol city, they
broke into dance and song on the street, "Rock me hot potato!" And we fell out laughing again.!</span></div>
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<center style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;">
<span style="color: #990000;"><b>-Rookie For Life!</b></span></center>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06633982287638051335noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9080695675561448571.post-84663198041759944082014-02-24T08:57:00.000-08:002014-03-01T05:52:42.491-08:00What Morena Taught Me About Being A Better Footballer.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><span style="color: #660000;">[THE PITCH]</span> </b>I recently
read a New York Times self-help article by Amy Sutherland called <i>What Shamu Taught Me About a Happy Marriage</i>,
and, as my family had just adopted a puppy, I figured I would employ some of
her advice as a refresher course on reward-based training. The twist of the
article is that Sutherland begins to use these animal training techniques on
her most important human relationship, namely her husband… I thought about that
saying psychologists love … <i>our most
important relationship is the one we have with ourselves.</i> So the real twist,
of course, is that I decided to apply these very same animal techniques to
myself… as a puppy… err… player in training. I’m quite familiar with the idea
of being my own m</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">anager, coach, and cheerleader, so why not add </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">personal </i><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">trainer?</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9Osm4IeJ2402yHwprx4jgQrWp1ktfYBs33pHFakORgUzyEC1RZvqNIJPx-Q-leaecEMsIYpHepRSVjDpoTrGXldXoVtZbeNkKfwDGIxTUTtm_nKyo-IAO7We4echB9GYOoOWClPugddg/s1600/DSC_0349.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9Osm4IeJ2402yHwprx4jgQrWp1ktfYBs33pHFakORgUzyEC1RZvqNIJPx-Q-leaecEMsIYpHepRSVjDpoTrGXldXoVtZbeNkKfwDGIxTUTtm_nKyo-IAO7We4echB9GYOoOWClPugddg/s1600/DSC_0349.JPG" height="265" width="400" /></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Our puppy
Morena was named after a cow... a brown cow that my family had milked while
visiting a farm in Ecuador. I was actually the first “Mo” of the house, but my
childhood nickname lacks any direct correlation… or any rhyme or reason for
that matter. But hey, at least I wasn’t named after a cow. Morena is adorable
with her sleek, silky honey-colored coat, oversized ears, and white dipped
paws. As for me, I get my paws… err… nails dipped weekly and I have to take my
coat to the dry cleaners to keep it sleek. (After seeing the last bill, I am really
considering licking it clean myself). Appearances aside, the main thing that
Morena and I have in common is that right now we are both in training.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Unlike me,
Morena is a social butterfly. She’s clever and expressive. People and dogs love
meeting her as much as she loves meeting… and jumping on them. Walking with
Morena is probably the most social part of my day; she strolls confidently
through the neighborhood, hips swerving, as she introduces me to her pals.
Watching her go, I sometimes wonder what life would be like if I jumped up and
down, shook my butt, and kissed all over every stranger that greeted me… I
digress. Jumping is bad. And this habit of hers quickly <i>jumped</i> to the top of the “eliminate this behavior” list!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">So, how do
you begin to stop a dog’s bad behavior? According to WSTMAHM, you simply ignore
it. Simple? Hmmm… The entertainment industry has a saying, “All press is good
press.” Well in the world of puppy/husband/footballer training… it seems that all
attention is good attention. That means that every time I acknowledge a
behavior, whether positively or negatively, I encourage it. To Morena,
shouting, “No!” and “Stop!” is likely to promote the errant behavior because
the desired affect <i>is</i> the attention. Easier
said than done, Sutherland! Especially when it came to training myself. Morena
jumps on people. I miss shots. Hey, at least I haven’t knocked over any
toddlers…well, not lately! Self-chastising had been an integral part of my game
for a long time. And as far as relationships go…I found the words, “Are you
kidding Christen!” a real icebreaker. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">So, when
Morena jumps on me, I make it clear that, although incredibly adorable, I am
ignoring her by physically turning my back to her and continuing whatever I am
doing. On the field, if I shoot the ball off target, I turn my back to get
quickly into position and continuing playing, wasting no time or attention on
the mistake. Even though I’ve ignored the missed shot and turned my attention
to the game, “older dog” that I am…I find it difficult to stop the peanut
gallery in my head. “Bad girl!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Sutherland
also suggests that instead of training the subject NOT to do an incompatible
behavior, like, in the case of Morena, biting, we should substitute something
else. Instead of yelling at her for biting our hands, we offer her a chew toy
as an alternative and whenever she chews on her toy we praise and reward her. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg3ehrnBFvU10H9Q-zn7jXvNQb4YQRfMsu_Vc9tFkJ5nFvfv30nQH9UB1s4ftPqE6uWqag2o7c3J8eJjBR3xS_Z0cnOVFPoN8Vd8K5ianX-G29llCEOmPyFqsCUF3ctbnS0Kxd35GFfoM/s1600/DSC_0326.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg3ehrnBFvU10H9Q-zn7jXvNQb4YQRfMsu_Vc9tFkJ5nFvfv30nQH9UB1s4ftPqE6uWqag2o7c3J8eJjBR3xS_Z0cnOVFPoN8Vd8K5ianX-G29llCEOmPyFqsCUF3ctbnS0Kxd35GFfoM/s1600/DSC_0326.JPG" height="264" width="400" /></a><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">As for me,
instead of telling myself NOT to miss…duh! I started saying: SCORE! In high-pressure
situations like sports, the brain often does not have time to process complete
phrases. In the worst of cases, the actual words can be lost and the only understood
message comes from intonation…not unlike speaking to a dog…just sayin’. Studies
show that this type of error-avoidant thinking has negative affects on
performance. I’ve experienced this phenomenon first hand when a teammate, in
the heat of a battle, screams, “RELAX!!!!!!!!” The effect is usually <i>not</i> relaxing. More often, under duress, the
brain narrows in on the nucleus while missing all the modifiers, namely,
negation. So, if you are telling yourself <i>not</i>
to kick the ball over the goal, there’s a good chance that you will only absorb
“kick it over.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Both Morena
and I are very much a work in progress. But throughout this process, I started
to see how some of her natural behaviors could be really an advantage in any
athlete’s training. For example, she talks with her body, and as I’ve said
before, body language is paramount in team sports. <i>Tail
tucked? Out of the play. Tail up? “Just give me the Damn ball Keyshawn!”</i> At the dog park, Morena really gets into her
tackles. She is relentless in her pursuit… chasing down the small dogs and
pestering the big ones. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD3y2A7VRbjqSEMUsKthPr7ZVgPq_y-AmKF_1EUynFen54CtCDwJx7mk2XJ-SiHvcltTnTdcdQGFEXAQXhecEfDOa3s-k5lb1FRuDl1gdn9rPIaFjla9bHIMQQIsTzAWSw00_v6yrydaA/s1600/DSC_0178-2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD3y2A7VRbjqSEMUsKthPr7ZVgPq_y-AmKF_1EUynFen54CtCDwJx7mk2XJ-SiHvcltTnTdcdQGFEXAQXhecEfDOa3s-k5lb1FRuDl1gdn9rPIaFjla9bHIMQQIsTzAWSw00_v6yrydaA/s1600/DSC_0178-2.JPG" height="424" width="640" /></a></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1sWNhjs3ZKW_2woCgvK-pVMW8LLbGCrL034uIXHNrR9yP7L9GcViYRh1gbMOR5wUg4Exsjkzep66tyKsdgxcwx0bqURkylZT7wU7J01a8nlPZ_-eoSHXhQnnN8RCb4UV-U9P6Wr6Q31Y/s1600/DSC_0331.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1sWNhjs3ZKW_2woCgvK-pVMW8LLbGCrL034uIXHNrR9yP7L9GcViYRh1gbMOR5wUg4Exsjkzep66tyKsdgxcwx0bqURkylZT7wU7J01a8nlPZ_-eoSHXhQnnN8RCb4UV-U9P6Wr6Q31Y/s1600/DSC_0331.JPG" height="424" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Most of all,
Morena listens to her body. Right now, the off-season for Damallsvenskan is the
time in my life that I have the most control over my fitness regimen. And when
I have control, I tend to over do it. On the other hand, I’ve had to smile more
than a few times when baby Mo ever so dramatically throws herself down on the
floor, as if to say, “Enough!” At just four months old, she listens to her body
and refuses to continue doing something she enjoys when she’s exhausted. At 25,
I still have not mastered this skill. How can I get in my lift, extra shots,
and rehab if I took a nap? How can I play, write, and spend time with my
friends if I stopped when my body was tired? Well, what our little Morena knows
is that for quality play, you need your rest! You might be thinking: That’s Im<i>press</i>ive…but I call it: Best In Show!</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06633982287638051335noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9080695675561448571.post-90721411112877282182014-01-01T17:49:00.000-08:002014-03-01T06:28:30.773-08:00Win Or Go Home!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #990000;">[THE PITCH] </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">A wise
man once wrote... "Again and again, I am reminded that soccer is,
simply-put, "the game of life." Oh wait, that wasn't a wise
man...that was me. Two years ago, when I started this blog, a thread relaying
many of the experiences I've chanced upon in my football adventure and the
lessons I've learned along the way, I was already aware that football is a
microcosm of life. That is, that the ups-and-downs that players experience on
the field mirror the ups-and-downs in life for all of us off the field. But
never has this been clearer to me than with events occurring over the last few
months. Literally speaking, the advent of Champions League has become a
metaphor for my life: win or go home! Let me explain…</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">
<br />
<span style="background: white;">In the US, the sports world thrives on an
all-or-nothing, playoff mentality. “Win or go home” is the tagline for the NBA
playoffs and also the phrase my youth club coach used every game en route to
the national championship. Consistency, stability, and endurance—the qualities
it takes to win a league—give way to grit, big plays, and the luck it takes to
win in a playoff. Of course, there is much more to winning than is visible on
the field and, like the effort and commitment required to rear a child, it
takes a village…</span><br />
<br />
<span style="background: white;">In 2006 in a small, unknown city in Sweden, a
small, unknown, division2 women's professional club team made a commitment to
win the most prestigious title in women’s professional soccer: Champions
League. The goal was lofty and would take years and more than a few sponsors.
Five years later, some of the world’s best players from several different
countries joined the journey, and took Damallsvenskan by storm. And so, in the
winter of 2012, when I was offered the opportunity to jump into the dream, I
strapped up my snow boots and plowed my way into the House of Happiness.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="background: white;">I came to Tyresö one year ago with the dream to
win Champions League on May22, 2014, and winning aside, my two years in Sweden
have been invaluable. Outside of the American pressure-cooker environment, I've
become much more confident and comfortable with the game and with myself. That
being said, when I moved abroad I did it in hopes of one day making the US National
team. That dream to play in my country and for my country has not left me for
one moment. The main reason for my move from Göteborg to Tyresö last season was
for the USWNT. I needed, in legal terms, to be released for any and every USWNT
call-up, something that KGFC would not do for me, but TFF would.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="background: white;">Being a part of the USWNT is my number one
priority as a professional women’s soccer player. I am grateful to be included
in the pool and for every opportunity afforded me by the US Federation. I’m
relatively new to the team, with only 11 caps occurring all in the past
calendar year. Since my move to Sweden ended up being my “roundabout route” to
the national team, I never expected my two dreams would become mutually
exclusive. Yet three months ago, I got a phone call from the US Federation,
detailing the reasons why US Soccer wanted me to come back to the NWSL for the
2014 season.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="background: white;">There are, in fact, so many reasons to return
home to the NWSL and I fully intend to come back for this league. It’s simply a
matter of when. I support the NWSL and I respect it. I know how important it’s
existence and success is for the women’s game. I also know that proximity and
visibility are important for myself personally, as a player just breaking into
the national team.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="background: white;">US Soccer has put a lot of money, energy, and
effort into building the NWSL. For them, a strong domestic league is an
essential element to ensure future national team success as more and more
countries get competitive on the world’s stage. US Soccer is also my employer.
And they want their “Americans abroad” to return to the NWSL in 2014 to help
promote the league, raise the level, and lure both fans and top international
players. The problem is I really feel my <i>time</i>
is not quite done in Sweden, that my lessons are not all learned. The
federation recognized how important I feel staying in Sweden is to my
development, and in consideration of this, a compromise was formed. We agreed
that I could stay in Tyresö but only as long as the team was in Champions
League: In other words: advance to the next round or say goodbye to Sweden.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />
<span style="background: white;">Yes, I have the opportunity to make both dreams
a reality: to play at home in the NWSL and to play for a Champions League
title. I am grateful for that. But the moment I hung up that phone call,
"win or go home" took a new meaning in my life. "Go home" does
not just mean the end of the Champions League season, but it would mean the end
of an era: the clock would run out of my time playing for TFF, the finish of my
life abroad in Sweden, the goodbye to all my friends, and the closing of a
beautiful chapter in my life.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="background: white;">I had thought that the most powerful lesson I
had learned thus far was to separate my life from my sport, my happiness from
my outcomes. In Sweden, I had found my identity outside of football. And that
identity allowed me to play and live in harmony and composure. But in that
moment, it seemed that I was right back where I started two years ago. Soccer
was no longer just a reflection of my life. It had tentacles reaching out
grabbing and clinging to every aspect of my existence. It once again seemed
impossible to see where soccer ended and my life began.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="background: white;">When we drew Paris-St. Germaine in the first
round, a team that had also announced it’s intention to win CL and then backed
it up by signing numerous top international players, including two USWNT
teammates, I felt the sudden pang of panic.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It was the
first of many pangs over the following weeks as we began to gear up for our
first Champions League rivalry. The days became colder and colder as October
snuck up on us in Sweden, and it became more and more difficult to separate my
football outcomes from my personal decisions. The plummet in the outside
temperature ran counter to the surge in my heart rate. It was getting harder to
distinguish Christen-the-footballer-free-spirited-traveler from Christen-the-over-thinker.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">A week
before kick-off, team Tyresö met with our general manager. Yes, it was him Hasse
who, back in 2006, dreaming of a Champion’s League title, set the wheels in
motion toward that end. He stood before us, surveying the room filled with some
of the most notable faces in women’s soccer including players from six
different countries and showed us the names of all the players and staff members
that had been a part of this seven-year journey. He reminded us how far we had
come and how many people shared this dream… and then he begged us not to blow
it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I sat simmering in that
pressure cooker until it hit me. I could allow the heat to cook me…melt me away…
or I could let it evaporate like the steam it really was. Instead of trying to <span style="background: white;">untangle this jumble of goals and agendas, I decided to crack the lid. I
could not separate let alone satisfy all of the dreams, emotions and stakes in
that one room. </span>It was far too much for one person to take on, but
fortunately, we had each other. We were a team. <span style="background: white;">The
only positive thing I could do was to just leave it all there…<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background: white; color: #222222; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">And
play. </span><span style="color: #222222; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="http://www.womenssoccerunited.com/video/tyres-2-1-psg-match-highlights-uefa-women-s-champions-league-9th" target="_blank">TFF 2 - PSG 1</a><span style="color: #222222; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="http://www.womenssoccerunited.com/video/fortuna-hj-rring-1-2-tyres-match-highlights-uefa-women-s-world" target="_blank">TFF 2 - FH 1</a><span style="color: #222222; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="http://www.womenssoccerunited.com/video/tyres-4-0-fortuna-hj-rring-match-highlights-uefa-women-s" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">TFF 4 - FH 0</span></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />
<span style="background: white;">Of course, we are still in the thick of things.
Advancing to the quarterfinals in March has bought me some more time in Sweden,
but the journey continues with the rules unchanged. As I said before, it’s only
a question of when…win or go home…or maybe…win AND go home!</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06633982287638051335noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9080695675561448571.post-67288095931896963742013-12-15T09:43:00.000-08:002014-02-17T12:08:00.642-08:00Mind Games.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Mind Games: How training the mind like we train the body can enhance them both.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>This article originally appeared in the December issue of Our Game Magazine. <a href="http://www.ourgamemagazine.com/subscribe/" target="_blank">Subscribe now. </a></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #660000;">[Sidelines] </span>The
idea of athletes training their brains as well as their bodies is far from a
new concept. But only recently did I start to understand just how much studying
sports psychology and applying some of the tools could help me take control of
my game, and my life. I had to understand the workings of the mental game in
order to stop losing it. I found that using my mind to study my mind actually
allowed me to free my mind! </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Psychology
classes in college opened the door; reading Gary Mack’s <i>Mind Gym</i> set the table, and the process of learning Vedic
meditation all made welcome some beneficial principles. But it was a revelation
of “mindfulness” that made it all click.
Mindfulness is non-elaborative, non-judgmental attentive awareness of the
present moment in which each thought, feeling, or sensation is acknowledged and
accepted as it is. In essence, mindfulness is acknowledging each stressful
thought and accepting that we cannot control this intruder. By actively
refocusing, we can strip stressful thoughts of their power to dictate our
lives. The lessons are simple and well
worth learning!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">At
the beginning of my interest in sports psychology, I came to understand the
importance of making performance goals – goals that compare me to only me –
rather than outcome goals – goals that compare me to others. Performance goals
are in my control. Focusing on the things I can control is where I thought I
could find my mental strength.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">So,
on the field, when I start to hear the self-doubt in my head that stems from
outcome goal anxiety – <i>if I don’t score,
[fill in the blank] is going to take my spot – </i>I get angry at myself and
begin the self chastising. I begin by yelling
-- <i>Don’t think about this
Christen!” </i>In the middle of all this chaos, the game is going on. Perhaps I
have lost track of my position on the field, of the ball, or of my teammates.
Trying to coach myself into positive thinking consumes all of my attention,
taking it away from the most important task at hand: playing football.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Yes
of course, I want to think positively about myself, especially during a game.
I’d pick confidence as the single most important factor for success. But my
mistake is the emotional reaction to my natural stress and worries. By not accept
that sometimes I am simply going to have doubts and by getting angry at myself
for this, I give power to the negative and remain distracted from the actual
goal for longer periods of time.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I
thought my mental strength as an athlete would result from positive thinking. I
was wrong. I thought that if I drowned out my fear and frustration with louder
positive thoughts, I could trick myself. Again, I was wrong. I can, however,
bring mindfulness onto the field! Repression is not the answer. Acceptance is.
My power as an athlete grows from maximizing my refocusing speed, the same way
my power as a person grows. Just as in meditation practice: a negative
distraction? Deep breath, get back to my mantra... negative thought in my game?
Deep breath, get back in the game!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><u>Mindful
Lesson #1 Let’s take it outside!</u></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">One
of the hardest aspects of the mental game is fear. I once described fear as a
twisted torch, simultaneously igniting the heart and scorching the soul as it
leads the way. <span style="background-color: white;">Sometimes taking control means letting go.
Like flickering flames, soccer’s precarious nature can be unnerving. There have
been plenty of times in my career that I’ve felt that I have played a good
game, but was unable to ignite my team and we lost. On the other hand, there
have been times that I was not exactly smokin’ yet the ball "bounced off
my shin guard" and into the back of the net, yielding a win, and setting
the crowd on fire. I am trying to embrace the unpredictable properties of this
sport. They are, after all, what make it so hot! It does, however, take more
than time to tame a fire. It takes patience, persistence, and, yes, power to
tame my fears. A certain level of insecurity is good. I know that to play
football the way I want, I have to use this fire for fuel. </span>A mindful
athlete does not battle fear – fighting fire with fire—but rather faces and
voices it. As a forward, I fear missing the game winning shot… rationally, I
know that I will survive the disappointment. How many times have I already done
this? And yet, this thought can still emotionally cripple me. Sports
psychologists say that my overreaction to this fear is due to compressed time.
My real fear is actually a string of insurmountable fears: What if I never score again? I’ll probably be released from my team in
six months time. I’ll move team to team… I’ll have to move back in with my
parents and start searching for a new career. I’ll have to go back to school,
but grad school is so expensive, so I’ll take out student loans and go hundreds
of thousands of dollars into debt…<i><o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">To
apply mindfulness to this situation before it and I spiral out of control, I go
to my room and light a candle. I close my eyes and I tell myself the words I’ve
run from for most of my life. <i>I will
choke. I will fail. I will let the team down and we will lose. And… I WILL
NEVER, EVER SCORE ANOTHER GOAL. </i>In my head, I make those thoughts as close
to experiencing their reality. I imagine the faces of my teammates, the smell
of the pitch’s wet, rainy grass, the sound of the disappointed crowd.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Now…
perhaps you’re thinking that this is the big, climactic moment where I turn it
all around in my head. But no, there is nothing more to it. With a mindful
approach, I simply open my eyes, blow out my candle, and return to my usual
activity: these days probably making hummus or watching Scandal. In doing so,
I’m teaching my body that my fears have no power over my life. I acknowledge my
angst, <i>of course I’m scared, the stakes
are high, </i>I accept my reservations, but by simply moving on, I’m taking
away their supremacy. Going back to normal life just after imagining the
fruition of my biggest fears teaches me that winning or losing… choking or
zoning… scoring or not scoring… life will go on.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><u>Mindful
Lesson #2 Get A Room!</u></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The
more I learn about life and football and psychology, the more I realize so much
of humanity operates out of consciousness. When I’m nervous for a big date, my
automatic (yet archaic) response system prepares me to face a lion. My body
receives a trigger—apprehension—and then reflexively begins preparing for
potential combat. Well, hopefully I’m not actually going to run into any lions,
so this prewired fight or flight condition is way over the top. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">A
mindful athlete retrains the brain to respond appropriately during sport. Using
the ABCs of mindful psychology, we can see how an “untrained” brain works:</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">A) <!--[endif]-->My
<b>A</b>utomatic initial response to a
mistake on the field: <i> You’re the worst Christen! <o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">B) <!--[endif]-->My
reactionary <b>B</b>ehavior in an attempt
to make myself feel better: the thought, <i>No!!
Christen, be positive! You’ll get it next time.</i></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -.25in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">C) <!--[endif]-->My<b> C</b>onsequence: Temporarily relief.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Earlier
I discussed how this inner monologue could distract me from the game. But
perhaps what causes more harm is that throughout this process of: errorànegative
thoughtà
positive combative thoughtà
relief, my brain is learning. It <i>learns</i>
that to achieve my temporary relief, I need positive self-talk. It also <i>learns</i> that to achieve this relief, I
need the combination of negative thinking followed by positive thinking. It
always goes back to Pavlov’s dogs! (And by that I mean the discovery of
classical conditioning in which Pavlov observed that by ringing a bell and then
presenting food, the dogs began to salivate at the sound of the bell.) Just as
the dogs began to salivate before the actual presence of meat, a footballer
begins to enter this negative thoughtà positive thought cycle even before something has
gone wrong on the field. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">While
we cannot control the automatic initial response (this we just accept), the
mindful athlete steps out of the cycle by removing the reinforcement. Instead
of the reactive positive thought, which puts all attention on feeling better,
we simply let go and put attention back on the game.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><u>Mindful
Lesson #3 Let the dogs out already!</u></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraph" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">You
don’t need to be spiritual be mindful. Mindfulness is an innate, though often
dormant, capacity we all possess. I know
first hand the positive impact it can have on playing football but more
importantly I am starting to realize the benefit in my everyday life as well.
To cultivate mindfulness is to activate our inner power to be happy…and who couldn’t
use a little more of that?</span></div>
<!--EndFragment--></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06633982287638051335noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9080695675561448571.post-13897777290813720132013-11-21T01:54:00.002-08:002013-11-21T01:54:39.729-08:00One Hand In My Pocket.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;"><b><span style="color: #660000;">[The Pitch] </span></b>“And
what it all comes d</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">own to is
that I haven’t got it all figured out just yet. ‘Cause I’ve got one hand in my
pocket and the other one is giving the peace sign.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">Last month, the
USWNT did a “friendly” tour through San Antonio, San Francisco, and Columbus.
While European countries have begun their World Cup 2015 Qualifying group play
– a 6 team/ 10 game ordeal that spans over the course of a<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>year – the US has begun the countdown
to the two week qualification tournament: 11 months! </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">It’s interesting to
note how the system of qualification highlights one of the differences between
American soccer and European football. When discussing the topic of
qualifications here in Sweden, I might remark how difficult it is for a team to
be at their absolute best, or as we like to say in the US “the peak,” for an
entire year-long season; while my European friends would surely mention how
unfortunate it would be to get injured if it happened to fall during the two
week tournament, or how one bad referee or a single “bad bounce” could shatter
your World Cup dreams. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">11 months away and
the team is gearing up physically, mentally, emotionally. The United States
World Cup Qualifying squad will enter the tournament in top shape and peak
condition after 150 plus days together in 2014 alone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If one “bad bounce” could change everything, then the only
option is not to leave it up to one bounce. There is little room for error! But
in case you haven’t heard… Pressure makes the USWNT. Well… I can attest that
the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">pressure</i>, that the exciting
style, and the exhilarating nature of do-or-die tournaments has built an
un-paralleled fan base for the team… After the USA’s electrifying World Cup (ie:
Brazil Quarterfinal) and Olympic (ie: Canada Semifinal) performances, people
are still coming out and lining up to watch games and meet players. In this
most recent three game tour, we saw 52,000 people. WOW!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">Through it all, the
team never takes its eye off of the prize: World Cup Gold, a feat that has
eluded us since 1999. Being the first year under head coach Tom Sermanni and
officially an “off” year with no major world championships, it was certainly,
and quite naturally, a time for uncertainty. While trying out different
line-ups, formational systems, and playing styles… we are, perhaps, a team
without a defined identity. Of course, making the team, a game roster, or even
a camp roster is unpredictable, so I write the word “team,” let alone the words
“my team” with tentativeness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But
that’s not necessarily a bad thing. I wrote a blog at the beginning of the year
called To Build Me Up, Break Me Down, and I still feel that way today.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If I were to replace the word
“uncertainty” with “freedom” stating, “It is certainly a time for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">freedom</i>,” then, the benefits would be
obvious and…we’ve got a whole different ball game.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">While I cannot say exactly
what the coaches and staff are intending, I would be surprised if this exercise
of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">freedom</i> was not intentional. In my
observations, individuals, like teams, progress marginally if left on a
straight course. But when they encounter some tough situations and decisions along
the way or some forks in the road, even if they chose the wrong path, they learn,
and usually emerge stronger. In this way, the team would probably benefit from
a few setbacks and/or shake-ups, as tougher competition both inter- and
intra-squad make for a better team overall.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">Perhaps there is
more room for a possession-based style in the USWNT future. Perhaps you’ll see
some new faces emerge on the world stage. But whatever way it goes, I’m quite
certain that this team will always work to keep its greatest strengths:
intensity, high work-rate, athletic prowess, and a winning mentality. A shift
in playing-style, tactics, formation, priorities or players will never come at
the expense of this proven edge. Sometimes we are so focused on improving,
changing, and moving that we forget to see the power, importance, and
effectiveness of what’s already there. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">This is true for me
on an individual level as well. While shifting back and forth between two very
different teams, I often find myself wondering exactly how to adapt. To find
success with the national team, should I forget the tools that have given me
success in Europe? For example, the high-paced and direct USWNT game rarely
affords the time to position myself on a defender’s blind side. Should I forgo
the tools that I’ve garnered in an attempt to fit into the American system? I
also know that it is really not possible or even savvy to try to play
high-pressure alone…So, to be successful in Europe, should I neglect the traits
that I know have made American soccer produce the most winning women’s team in
the world? </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">When consulting my
Tyresö coach Tony Gustavsson on the subject, he made clear that the answer is
the same for a team as it is for an individual player. “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Everyone needs to grow, to improve, to adapt, to change, and to absorb.
But always stay true to your identity as a player. For you that means staying
sharp inside the penalty box</i>. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Keep
focused on your strengths because in the end, scoring goals is your forte and
also your job.” </i>Maybe I have the time in Sweden for little opposite
movements to create space for myself, while in America I need to rely more on
speed and fitness. Patience is key in my footboll, while focus and readiness is
key in soccer. So yes, I can adjust the details of my game to thrive in
different environments. But whether I’m wearing the red, white, & blue or
yellow & red, come hell or high water, I need to finish. That is
uncompromiseable. That’s my edge. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The
USWNT can change jerseys, players, styles, and all… you can change your runs,
your first touch, your outlook… go ahead! Adapt, add, try- out,
trial-and-error. But find your core and believe in it. All the rest is just
icing on the cake. </i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">I think this lesson
rings true off the pitch as well. Surprise, surprise!! A theme at last!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As I move from country to country and
team to team, I have tried to hold on to my own truths… or as Tony put it: my
core. Most important to me is that no matter what country, what house, or even
what job, I want to always be on a path toward happiness, to accept happiness
as my personal responsibility and challenge, to fight for it, and above all,
share it with others. If that mean’s sharing joy with fans and teammates
through hard work on the field or just sharing laughter among friends, I know that’s
important in my life. I take that quest with me everywhere I go and in
everything I do. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">The shake-ups make
life exciting. Embracing them is how I stay the course. Maintaining my true
self keeps me grounded and provides the balance I need to keep progressing.
Going forward as player means trying to thrive at the club and National team
levels… and for that I intend to use everything I’ve got!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">Like they sing in
the Girl Scouts: “Make new friends, but keep the old. One is silver, and the
other’s GOLD.” And after all, doesn’t it always come back to gold?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="color: #660000;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">[Stoppage Time]</span></span></b><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;"> I have to admit that
coming off of the bench has to be one of the most mentally fatiguing parts of
the game. SO much so, that I find myself more exhausted after a USWNT game
where I played in the final 15 minutes than after a full 90 minutes.</span>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">Most of my comrades
on the USWNT bench are in the same boat, as we don’t normally find ourselves on
the sideline in our club careers. So… it’s not uncommon to hear chat about just
how tough it can be.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In most of my
Stoppage Time sections, I’ve tried to give you an insider’s look onto what it
feels like inside the paint… well this time, I’ll share what it feels like on
the pitch, but out of the paint.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1)<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">We “stay
warm” the entire game. This consists of periodic dynamic movements up and down
the sideline. However, up and down from the cold bench only seems to bring
attention to just how tight your muscles have become over the last 10 minutes…</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2)<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">Watching
the game means you don’t get the benefit of the distraction of playing. I’m a
major victim of my own thoughts. HELLO MINDFULNESS, WHERE ARE YOU? Athletes
often say that they feel nervous just until they touch the ball. Well, if
that’s not until 70 minutes after the game began, nerves can build up a
whooooole lot! When you’re playing, the crowd is a blur of energy, the coaches’
comments are often unheard, and you are somewhat oblivious anything that’s going
on <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">around</i> the game. However, on the
bench, it’s not like this. I’m keenly aware of every scratch or bruise on my
body and I can hear even the slightest screech. From the bench, I can see just
how many people came out to support us. I can absorb the energy form the fans,
and from the bench, I get chills during the national anthem.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3)<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">It’s
difficult to maintain the necessary balance between staying calm and collected
while simultaneously ready to go in at any moment. While I’m so hyped up
watching my teammates, I have to contain my energy should I be needed on the
pitch. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">4)<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">After an
hour of trying to remain calm and stay warm on the sideline, if you are lucky,
you go into a high-intensity, high-paced game that doesn’t afford you the
luxury of taking a few simple touches to get your feet wet.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">Now, this is not a
letter to the editor about how horrible it is to sit on the bench. I’ve spent a
long time working to get called in to this team, and when I’m there I am proud
of my place on the bench. This is, on the other hand, a way of taking a moment
to acknowledge the efforts of all the subbed-in soccer players in the world.
This list of hardships is born of the wonderful challenge and incredible
opportunity. There are “super-subs” who enter the game with energy and immediately
have an impact. So every time I find myself on the bench, I think of that. How
can I go on and raise the level of play? What does the team need? How can I
make the most of my time on the field?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">Because whether we
are tied, up or down a goal…when the 4<sup>th</sup> official raises a neon
green 23 into the sky, it’s go time!!</span></div>
<center>
</center>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06633982287638051335noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9080695675561448571.post-89394756931838754942013-09-30T12:25:00.000-07:002014-02-17T12:33:35.456-08:00Sidelines from the Euro2013 Sideline<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Sidelines: From the Euro2013 Sidelines</span><br />
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>This article originally appeared in the September Issue of Our Game Magazine. Subscribe now.</i></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: #660000;">[Sidelines]</span> The marathon season of <i>Damallsvenskan</i>
requires that we report for preseason at the
onset of the new year amid raging, bitter
cold ...and finish just prior to the year-end
holiday season, our final matches dusted
in fresh white snowflakes. For the last
two years there has been a two-month
hiatus mid-season, in 2012 for the London
Olympics and in 2013 for the EUROs in
Sweden. During this season’s cessation, I
spent the latter part traveling throughout
the country to five different arenas to watch
seven games and nine different teams
compete in this exciting and prestigious
tournament. And despite the nagging
sensation – I WANT TO PLAY—I can say
that I enjoyed the change of perspective
from the pitch to the sideline.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="page" title="Page 1">
<div class="layoutArea">
<div class="column">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">As an athlete I’ve been told many times
that the moment that I cross over the paint
onto the pitch I must leave everything
else behind me... and again when the
match ends...I should...well... “leave
it on the pitch.” Still, at an elite level,
football becomes not only a source of
income, but also a social circle, a source
of pride, a vehicle for aspirations, and
even a home. Hard as I try, the sport
seems to transcend all demarcations. In
many ways, I embrace this border-free
lifestyle. The skills I’ve honed over the
20 years of my football career concerning
technique, tactics, group dynamics, and
training have simultaneously taught me
about autonomy, confidence, problem
solving, perseverance, and the pursuit of
happiness. Again and again, I am reminded
that soccer is, simply put, “the game of
life.” And from this perspective, I refuse
to “leave it on the field.”
</span></div>
<div class="column">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
</div>
</div>
<div class="layoutArea">
<div class="column">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">From the stands as I watched Europe’s
best football teams compete nation versus
nation, it struck me that perhaps a without-
boundary-embrace of the game happens
on a much larger level. Each country’s
style of football became vivid as if I were
watching different styles of dance, and
each squad seemed to move in a unique
rhythm. I couldn’t help but notice that a
national team’s tempo and strength reflects
the culture of the very country in which it
was born.
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Football is self-expression. Like food,
art, and dance, it is a microcosm of
society: dramatizing the social order as
well as the culture of its people. These
teams from different nations reflect the
varied virtues, vices, and priorities of
the country. As I watched Spain versus
Russia, France versus England, and
Norway versus Germany, I observed the
collision of cultures and witnessed their
unique displays of patriotism manifested
through sport.
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">American soccer epitomizes this
connection between sport and society. In
the land of the American dream—rags to
riches through hard work—it only makes
sense that the football culture centers on
mental toughness, physical prowess, and
dogged persistence. I would describe both
American soccer and American society
as highly competitive, tenacious and
expedient. Like pursuing the American
dream itself, the USWNT sustains a fast
paced, high-intensity game throughout the
match -- a pace, I might add, that few other
nations can match.
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">At the risk of over generalizing, the
USA celebrates success at the finish line, in contrast to Spain, which takes more time
to celebrate the way. Known for Flamenco
music and dance, bullfights, sunny
beaches, and Sangria, the passionate,
close-knit people of España live festival-
style just about every day. I witnessed this
first hand my junior year of college as I</span><br />
<div class="page" title="Page 1">
<div class="layoutArea">
<div class="column">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">spent winter quarter studying in Madrid.
We have a running joke in my house about
“Spanish time” as the rest of us wait on
my Spanish roommates, sometimes hours,
after practice as they stretch, talk, and
shower shockingly slowly. During the
EUROs, the Spanish Women’s National
Team demonstrated their appreciation for
the game’s beauty and nuances, as they
tiki-taka’ed the ball up the field with all
the creativity, freedom, and passion of a
festival. Spanish football was born and
nurtured on the streets, where there is
an authentic and ever-present love for
the beautiful game. And, although I am
well aware that the USA appreciates the
beautiful game and Spain does play to
win, there is a notable stylistic difference
on the pitch.
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In contrast, Swedes describe their
lifestyle with a word unequivocal in
English: <i>lagom</i>. Over the last year
and a half in Sweden, I have surmised that <i>lagom</i> means enough, adequate,
just right, in moderation, in balance,
optimal, and suitable. <i>Lagom</i> suggests
the feeling of appropriateness, where in
similar circumstances, we Americans tend to use words like “average,” which
carries a connotation of mediocrity.
Within the game, <i>lagom</i> comes from
an understanding that putting the team
first is the best way to reach any goal.
In the USA, teams are more often built
around star players; playing football in
Sweden, however, the whole is valued
much more than its parts. As I observed
from sold out stands cloaked in yellow
and blue, two of Sweden’s EURO
matches, the <i>lagom</i> mentality was on
fine display. Sweden played with group
tactics, team organization, and defined
player roles. With <i>lagom</i>, there is room
for everyone to share in the successes
as well as commiserate in the failures. I
watched in admiration when the bench
practically stormed the field after every
Swedish goal, when the team marched
united around the stadium to thank the
fans, after their heartbreaking semi-final
defeat, and when the newspaper headlines
the next day read: “Save Your Tears, We
Are So Proud of You.” I was once again
reminded of the connection between
football and the society of <i>lagom</i>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="page" title="Page 2">
<div class="layoutArea">
<div class="column">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Finally, Germany stole the EURO
trophy with a disciplined, organized,
and consistent style of football. They
were not the flashiest of the competitors
this year, but for the most part, Germany
played minute 90 with the same intensity
as minute 1. The Germans conceded just
one goal throughout the tournament
and squeaked out 1-0 victories in the
elimination rounds. In my perspective, their compact and systematic play
reflected some of the same qualities
associated with the prevailing culture
and economy. The German people, like
their football, are largely considered a
forward-thinking people, who appreciate
security, rules, and planned organization.
Across the board, the Germans sustain
high levels of performance and stability
in sports. In football this is made evident
by the consistency of the player roster
for this tournament. Like the present
population of Germany, its women’s
national team reflects a diverse yet
cohesive set of talents. No, they did not
play the most glittery football, but the
trophy sure did sparkle.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="column">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I started this article by stating that
football is so much more than just a
game. It transcends the boundaries
of the field’s sidelines, reflecting and
dramatizing society. While highlighting
some of the cultural differences between
countries through nuanced stylistic
variances, football simultaneously acts
as a social union, thus, transcending
this very notion, and emphasizing the
commonality between all athletes and all
people. The moment the whistle blows
at the start of the match, the Russians...
same as the Swedes... same as the
English...same as the Danes entered
an even playing field, all dreaming
the same dream, ending with the same
image: hoisting the Cup amid the golden
rain of celebratory confetti before fans
and state. </span></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06633982287638051335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9080695675561448571.post-57687966286331497532013-08-05T14:55:00.000-07:002013-08-05T15:06:20.985-07:00Mind Matters<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: #990000;"><b>[THE PITCH] </b></span></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">A sports psychologist once asked me to complete a simple task.
He held out his index finger and said, “focus on my finger for one minute.” I
directed my eyes to his finger and told myself, “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Okay, that’s his finger… that’s his finger… that’s his finger, I wonder
why he wants me to focus on his finger? Christen!… that’s his finger… that’s
his… which part of his finger am I supposed to be focusing on?”</i> His smug
smile confirmed that he made his point. It’s impossible. “Focusing,” he said,
“is the process of constantly refocusing.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjymdCX3EqNWjtNFipVcjRIWZxs-I1Od-3c6gE7HQQVQJS4fMdpJ5hGmxGgSnK0q5xCRPj8EPRLk5cai1DqfPvM3flzGpg2AYbF3ecrDT5o9uWiYw1aXlHzhRH72tHKQZ7oAka7EhZgHWM/s1600/935463_10151425913780905_1656188641_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjymdCX3EqNWjtNFipVcjRIWZxs-I1Od-3c6gE7HQQVQJS4fMdpJ5hGmxGgSnK0q5xCRPj8EPRLk5cai1DqfPvM3flzGpg2AYbF3ecrDT5o9uWiYw1aXlHzhRH72tHKQZ7oAka7EhZgHWM/s640/935463_10151425913780905_1656188641_n.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">I’ve returned to the blog after a month long hiatus from
writing… during which we played and tied our rival Damallsvenskan team Malmö, and
I attended USWNT camp where we played South Korea and Abby Wambach broke the
all-time scoring record. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I went home to
California for three weeks, then returned to Sweden for
“pre-second-half-of-the-season” which consisted of training while traveling to
watch teammates and friends compete in the Euros...well...I digress...My
point here is...I'm back !!!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">I think it is only appropriate to dedicate this blog to
refocusing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Vedic meditation demonstrates the same point as the
focus-on-my-finger task. While you try in vain to focus on your mantra,
distractors—impeding thoughts—creep in and fight for your attention. The point
of meditation is to accept these sometimes-stressful thoughts, and by mere
acknowledgment and active refocusing , you can strip them of their
power to dictate your life. I have been practicing Vedic meditation for 18 months
now, and only recently realized its massive implication to my sport.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi984H9sVWswI2qQWEQMAk-LONt9bCEZ1PWT69lN7mB3lW47XWRIW4nwHnxggOrvZldH0gmmGNVUESo5WGDOKbCqGHc1l9jmq88o6N-IBhNK1WGpAryYoz9xL0y6Kr5OHSEB2Kd7QiS1LM/s1600/8757798717_67ee22d76c_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi984H9sVWswI2qQWEQMAk-LONt9bCEZ1PWT69lN7mB3lW47XWRIW4nwHnxggOrvZldH0gmmGNVUESo5WGDOKbCqGHc1l9jmq88o6N-IBhNK1WGpAryYoz9xL0y6Kr5OHSEB2Kd7QiS1LM/s320/8757798717_67ee22d76c_o.jpg" width="236" /></a><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Long ago I recognized the importance for me to make performance
goals – goals that compare me to only me—rather than outcome goals – goals that
compare me to others. Performance goals are in my control. Focusing on the
things I can control is where I thought I could find my mental
strength.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">So, on the pitch, when I start to hear the self-doubt in my head
that stems from outcome goal anxiety—if I don’t score, [fill in the blank]
is going to outscore me or take my spot—I get angry at myself and begin the
self chastising. I begin by yelling, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">"Don’t
think about this Christen</i>!” In the middle of all this<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>cacophonous chaos the game is
going on. Perhaps I have lost track of my position on the field, of the
ball, or my teammates. Trying to coach myself into positive thinking consumes
all of my attention, taking it away from the most important task: football.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Yes, of course I want to think positively about myself,
especially during a game. I’d pick confidence as the single most important
factor for success. But my mistake is the emotional reaction to my
natural stress. By not accepting that sometimes I am simply going to have
doubts and worries and by getting angry at myself for this, I give power
to the negative, and remain distracted from the goal at hand for longer periods
of time.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">I thought my mental strength resulted from positive
thinking. I was wrong. I thought that if I masked my fear and my
frustration with louder positive thoughts, I could trick myself. I was wrong.
Like the baby Buddha I try to be during my 20-minute twice-daily meditation, I
can bring this mindfulness onto the pitch. Repression is not the answer.
Acceptance is. My power as an athlete will grow from maximizing my refocusing
speed, the same way as my power as a person. Negative thought in my meditation?
Deep breath, get back to my mantra. Negative thought in my game? Deep breath,
get back in the game!</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06633982287638051335noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9080695675561448571.post-62839198992820829732013-07-13T12:27:00.000-07:002014-02-17T12:30:43.772-08:00Riptide.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;">"Riptide": A Stanford Soccer Story.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>This article originally appeared in the college edition of Our Game Magazine in July 2013.</i> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 24.024023056030273px;"><span style="color: #660000;">[Sidelines] </span>“I have failed over and over again in my life and that is why I succeed.” – MJ</span> </span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small; line-height: 24.024023056030273px;"><br /></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;"><i><span style="line-height: 24.024023056030273px;">The tide does turn</span></i><span style="line-height: 24.024023056030273px;">. It has before, but the feeling is somehow different this time. I watch with an eerie indifference as the clock winds down. Tic- toc – tic- toc. A calm washes over me like the final wave. The thought, “This cannot be happening, not again...” is interrupted by the piercing cry of the final whistle.</span> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small; line-height: 24.024023056030273px;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;">W<span style="line-height: 24.024023056030273px;">hat day is it? What year? If someone had told me it was December 2009 I would have believed him. But it’s not 2009, it’s 2010. And this time we aren’t drowning in the Tarheel baby blue under-toe. Instead, the shrill screams of victory are emanating from a sea of Notre Dame deep navy. The fear of this fate—back to back undefeated seasons, only to lose in the National Championship final—made me sick to my stomach for months. But in the fruition of this reoccurring nightmare, I am numb. I must be numb for I feel nothing, not the stiffness in my back nor the fatigue in my legs.</span> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small; line-height: 24.024023056030273px;">Just one day earlier we had been deemed the heir apparent to the NCAA National Championship crown, yet today the Stanford University women’s soccer team—my team, my family for the last 4 years, my identity—now lies on the icy hard field in College Station Texas. The cries of the broken aren’t shrill at all. They are low and breathy and haunting.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small; line-height: 24.024023056030273px;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small; line-height: 24.024023056030273px;">Once upon a time, my fear of losing made me hate the game. My fear lost me games. I lost the game to hate. And while simultaneously fearing and hating the game, I lost myself.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small; line-height: 24.024023056030273px;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 24.024023056030273px;">The college soccer system is an excellent proponent of women’s football. The lure of scholarships gets a lot of girls playing, increasing the competition. Title-9 guarantees opportunities to play at a higher level. And the college environment brings top-notch resources (unmatched by any women’s professional environment I’ve seen), fans, and the competitive culture of deep-rooted rivalries. Yes, it was a fantastic experience; and also not a wonder why it felt like winning and losing were life and death.</span> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small; line-height: 24.024023056030273px;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small; line-height: 24.024023056030273px;">Overtime, I’ve learned that the stories that aren't often told are the ones most worth telling. The stories that begin when the cameras shut off and the reporters walk away, leaving the athletes on the field, some to pick up the equipment, and all to pick up the pieces. The stories that appear to be about losing something, well, they are really stories about finding something… finding oneself. Because, when the bright lights go off, another light comes on. While you’ve read the story about me falling down, I lived a different story about getting back up.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small; line-height: 24.024023056030273px;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 24.024023056030273px;">For as long as I can remember, I have overlooked the ocean. It is home. I watched it appear from the thick gray fog in the morning and disappear in a warm orange glow at dusk. In the winter I can observe its dramatic ebb and flow from my parent’s balcony, and in the summer, though calmer, I know that it rolls in and out in a natural rhythm.</span> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small; line-height: 24.024023056030273px;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 24.024023056030273px;">Like me, the ocean is always moving and always changing as a result of its surrounding elements. But more specifically, I connect with the waves because they are the way I <i>want</i> to be: resilient. Storm after storm, they crash and break against the cliff rocks but are not diminished. The ocean does not hate or fear the wind and the moon. It thrives on these elements. After the waves have been pulled and strained and sucked down by the tides, they form again. I have observed the waves of the Pacific breaking and rebuilding for years from the cliffs by my house, but I never realized I was watching the soul of a great athlete.</span> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small; line-height: 24.024023056030273px;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 24.024023056030273px;">I can remember so clearly how I felt on that cold, winter night at College Station. I wipe my face and look upward. I am still alive. I know because my heart beats hard and I choke on every breath. Losing has taken a chunk out of me, but somehow left me more whole. I stand with my team in a circle that lies somewhere between despair and hope. And with our arms linked we transcend the pain of loss. Somewhere under all the hurt, we can feel that we are on the brink of beautiful. There is something magical about being so close to teammates... it gives us a reason to carry on…to keep striving.</span> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small; line-height: 24.024023056030273px;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small; line-height: 24.024023056030273px;">So much is made available to the young player because of college athletics. While learning and honing the game, we learn and hone important life skills. Over the course of our college careers, the physical, technical, and tactical improvements, which the outside world judges and rates, sometimes overshadow the subtler yet more valuable changes in our maturity and character. The former list will surely garner the accolades, but the latter will carry you through life. Losing is a part of life. But it’s up to you how big a role you give it, and your choice will set your life’s stage.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small; line-height: 24.024023056030273px;">“It took me a long time to realize that there ain't much difference between winnin' and losin', except for how the outside world treats you. But inside you, it's about all the same. It really is. Fact of the matter is, I believe that our only curses are the ones that are self-imposed. You know what I'm sayin'? We, all of us, dig our own holes.” – Friday Night Lights</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06633982287638051335noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9080695675561448571.post-72035155999544940132013-06-15T12:18:00.000-07:002014-02-17T12:06:51.209-08:00Very Superstitious!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-weight: normal;">Very Superstitious!: The role of rituals in sport.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><i>This article originally appeared in the June 2013 edition of Our Game Magazine.</i></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><i><br /></i></span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #660000;">[Sidelines] </span>When I was 12 years old, a close friend of my family gave me
a small glass elephant that gently flickered when the light hit it just right.
I kept it safely tucked away inside my soccer backpack. Soon after, when we set
out on a long car ride to play the first round of State Cup—let me add here
that if someone in our household mentioned State Cup back then, you might have
thought they were talking about the World Cup—I pulled the elephant out hoping
to get lost in the kaleidoscopic diversion. My mom caught a glimpse of its
sparkle in the rear view mirror…and I’m pretty sure I caught a glimmer of panic
in her eye. She asked to examine my elephant so I handed it over. It seems, she
explained, that elephant figurines like mine, with their trunks turned down,
are actually bad luck. And before I could say “I’d rather be lucky than good,”
she promptly rolled down the window and sent it flying into a gully.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span><span style="font-weight: normal;">What sphere of life arouses otherwise intelligent human
beings to hold on to such bizarre superstitions as does sports? I can’t quite
understand it. I <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">adhere</i> to them, like
salt over the right shoulder, and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">avoid</i>
them, like the dreaded crossing black cat…but I’m not sure just why.</span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span><span style="font-weight: normal;">I am sure that it was 1993 when I became superstitious.
Every day…countless times a day… I would play this game with myself: In the
spur of a moment, I would come up with a personal challenge—<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">if I can stop that ball before it crosses
the line… if I can jump over 3 cracks on the street… if I can swim to shore in
the next minute</i>—I’ll win the national championship with my club team
Slammers FC. Soon, I was swimming so fast and hopping so far I was nearly out
of breath and clearly ready for my triathlon, when fate left its calling card.
I still have the slip of paper from a Panda Express fortune cookie that I
opened before the finals of Southern Cal State Cup. It reads, “A tropical
destination is in your near future.” Low and behold…Far West Regionals were in Hawaii
that year.</span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span><span style="font-weight: normal;">For sure, none of those mini challenges affected the outcome
of the State Cup games, but, when the next check comes, I might advice not to
throw out those pre-sealed, sugary, albeit stale, fortune cookies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /> </span></span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span><span style="font-weight: normal;">Today in the House of Happiness, matches do not pass by
discreetly. Game days are marked by florescent yellow nail polish, Meghan’s
GAME DAY neon tee shirt, and Kristina Maria’s “Our Song” on full volume,
windows down, voices up, hair flipping everywhere.</span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span><span style="font-weight: normal;">It’s common for a man to not shave his beard throughout the
playoffs…for luck. It’s common knowledge that Michael Jordan wore his UNC shirt
under his Bull’s jersey…for luck. Cristiano Ronaldo never shoots towards the
goal in his pregame warm up because he dare not “waste the goals.” And don’t
even think about messing with the USWNT seating arrangements on the bus.</span><span style="font-weight: normal;">Although some rituals are downright dirty…like a former
teammate who refused to wash her sports bra. Some are quite pure…like those,
rooted in a team’s legend, which involve kissing a picture of the Virgin Mary before
every match. When I asked my teammates/housemates their thoughts on the
subject, Verónica Boquete confessed to hopping with both feet before crossing
the line onto the pitch before each game. She hops with both feet at the same
time because, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">obviously</i>, she doesn’t
want one foot to feel left behind and jealous. As for Meghan , she admits that
she used to have a specific order to putting on every garment, after which she
would tap her shin guards twice, stand up, and turn once to the right. But that
sounds less like superstition and more like obsessive-compulsive behavior.</span><span style="font-weight: normal;">And, since we are all coming clean here…<span style="background: white; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">every morning before the game, I go out to the
field and take 21 shots. If a field is not available to me, then I sit on my
bed with the door closed and all the lights off, visualizing myself at the
field taking 21 shots.</span> Hmm, if I deferr to the wisdom of CR himself, then
I wonder just how many goals I have left in the back of my pillow…</span><span style="font-weight: normal;">On the other hand, USWNT teammate <span style="background: white; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Yael Averbuch told me, “</span><span style="background: white; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I try to avoid them [superstitious behaviors].
Because, to be honest, once I believe something like that it'll make me go
crazy.”<br /> <o:p></o:p></span></span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: white; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">But is it really
craziness? It’s hard to watch sports. It’s hard to watch someone you love take
on a formidable opponent with no way to help. For fans, superstition serves as
a channeled vehicle to feel a sense of control. Rally caps fall under this form
of craziness. As for us athletes…</span> perhaps it is because sports, and especially
football, seem to be controlled as much by luck and fortune as they are by
talent or skill. In our desire to achieve, it can seem like, all too often, the
ball rolls the wrong way…hits the post…was out of the view of the ref …the list
goes on and on. Wouldn’t it be nice sometimes just to hold your fate in your
own hand…your right hand of course…and an elephant in the other hand…with his
trunk turned upward. <span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-weight: normal;">Still, years later, when I look back at my wrinkly old
fortune sitting next to my youth soccer national championship medal, I am still
in awe of its power. Not power to predict the future, but its power to affect
it. If believing is achieving, then maybe there is more to superstition than we
give credit.</span><span style="font-weight: normal;">I was 14 when I succumbed to superstition. I am 24 today. Ten
years later, I try everyday to be my own fortune cookie, my own college
undershirt, and my own play-off beard. And I do so through positive self talk.
Yogi Berra once said, “Ninety percent of the game is half mental…” Pumping
myself up with positive self-talk is the most powerful and effective tool I can
use. It is the process of crafting superstitious self-fulfilling prophecies.
Unfortunately these little mantras don’t keep quiet during my matches. Last
week was not the first time I’ve heard a defender on the opposing team ask if
I’m crazy as they see me mouthing and gesturing to myself on the field. Oh
well… Muhammed Ali said, “I told myself I was the greatest long before I knew I
actually was.” That little bit of trust that we feel inside because of our
rituals, that instant of hope found in our superstition, that moment we imagine
how success feels after our “little lie”… is added power. And perhaps that power…that
magic… is an edge. And at the very least, our superstitious rituals and
behaviors help us cope and manage our fears…</span></span><br />
<h4>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-weight: normal;">“Fear, to a great extent, is born of a story we
tell ourselves, and so I chose to tell myself a different story from the one women
are told. I decided I was safe. I was strong. I was brave. Nothing could
vanquish me. Insisting on this story was a form of mind control, but for the
most part, it worked. Fear begets fear. Power begets power. I willed myself to
beget power. And it wasn’t long before I actually wasn’t afraid.” – Cheryl
Strayed in <i>WILD</i>.</span></div>
</h4>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06633982287638051335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9080695675561448571.post-24622104091232337802013-05-29T19:25:00.000-07:002013-08-11T12:19:58.930-07:00The Calm.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="color: #990000;">[THE PITCH] </span></b>You are enjoying fine food and fine company at a spring
picnic when suddenly you realize the wind has stopped blowing. It’s eerily
quiet… As if someone has turned off the soundtrack of whistling winds, chirping
birds, and even rustling leaves. It’s calm… And in that moment of silence all
that exists is a collective consciousness among cohorts…Not a cloud in the sky
above…Hmmm…Instinctively you gather your belongings…A storm is coming.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The old adage “the calm before the storm” has been used for
decades. Many believe it’s merely a wives tale or a myth, stemming from a
sailor’s fabricated sixth sense. But we know now that under the right
conditions, an unnerving calm can indeed befall the scene just before a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">system</i> moves in. And the pressure from
this storm-precursor is as real as it is perceivable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Two weeks ago after our 1-1 draw with Mallbackens IF (a team
lingering on the bottom half of the Damallsvenskan table), a few players from
our team stayed behind after the game. Caught deep in thoughts…It was quiet.
The soundtrack of whistling referees, chirping coaches , and even the rustling
crowd…stifled. It was calm… And in that moment of silence all that existed was
a unanimous feeling of frustration made visible on the faces of my ‘coworkers.’
I look up to check for clouds. Clear skies. That’s strange… because I feel the
storm coming.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As far as Mother Nature goes, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">a storm’s upward drafts suck up a tremendous amount of vapor and heat.
The air swoops upward, compresses, and then cycles back down from above, but
warmer and drier. The now more stable air forms a blanket over the lower
troposphere, acting as a temporary shield, preventing more air from entering
the storm clouds, and producing what we know as “the calm before the storm.”</i>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
What is more curious to me, however, is that if not for this
cyclical and counter-intuitive process, the clouds would not have enough energy
to storm at all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And that much I can
understand. If you’re an athlete, you are probably familiar with the feeling of
anxious restlessness after a loss. Not every loss is like this, as sometimes
you leave the field feeling flat. However in this case, the “loss” actually
came in the form of an <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">unacceptable</i>
tie; and as we stepped off the pitch after the Mallbacken debacle knowing we
can do better, we were of collective consciousness and our mind was already at
the next game: our chance for redemption. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The result both emotionally and physically exhausted us…<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> sucking up our vapor and heat</i>… I used
one shaking hand to steady the other as<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i>my<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i>teammate clenched her jaw to suppress
her anger… <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">the air swoops up and
compresses…</i> and yet our hearts pumped and our muscles tensed…<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">cycling back down…</i>Regardless of its many
and varied manifestations, the forecast was clear. A new energy was among us…a
force …a disturbance of sorts.<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> For then,
we made it rain…<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-outline-level: 1;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="color: #990000;">[Stoppage Time]</span></b> The Storm.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.womenssoccerunited.com/video/mallbacken-1-1-tyres-2013-05-12" target="_blank">Tyresö FF 1 – Mallbackens IF 1</a><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<a href="http://www.womenssoccerunited.com/video/tyres-win-10-2-christen-press-gets-four-goals-goal-highlights" target="_blank">Tyresö FF 10 – Sunnanå SK 2</a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="http://www.womenssoccerunited.com/video/tyreso-7-0-jitex-damallsvenskan-25-05-2013" target="_blank">Tyresö FF 7 – Jitex BK 0</a></div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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<span style="color: #990000;">RFL,</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06633982287638051335noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9080695675561448571.post-72528523194493555382013-05-16T17:23:00.000-07:002013-05-16T18:21:19.685-07:00Behind The Band.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9m_Zwn_V_xftDcjBPGZ2aO1YmYJcnzjQ5slee8qrvdsxPz6RBzx977zZzCf_leqOn_dRIUUexmuREKTEgIRciNN4vLICUD2VuocLnJz1BPNVnrLoe_fDbvACL-J1AOhuyS7CZq7nuGfg/s1600/IMG_1618.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9m_Zwn_V_xftDcjBPGZ2aO1YmYJcnzjQ5slee8qrvdsxPz6RBzx977zZzCf_leqOn_dRIUUexmuREKTEgIRciNN4vLICUD2VuocLnJz1BPNVnrLoe_fDbvACL-J1AOhuyS7CZq7nuGfg/s640/IMG_1618.PNG" width="634" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stockholm's Cherry Blossoms.</td></tr>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvnPykxH9TZSgXEvn7mdKDeCWMAFbvPC4saLhhh_0WgVc0EACyGu1ogtuL9Gy7PUPJCXKYyoPm8m2ojvGq8sWaDN_7N1Up62rr7rE9DiPtO36MXegriYpN3FznfwCiQwGXQA0ezjVE49U/s1600/IMG_1585.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvnPykxH9TZSgXEvn7mdKDeCWMAFbvPC4saLhhh_0WgVc0EACyGu1ogtuL9Gy7PUPJCXKYyoPm8m2ojvGq8sWaDN_7N1Up62rr7rE9DiPtO36MXegriYpN3FznfwCiQwGXQA0ezjVE49U/s640/IMG_1585.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="color: #990000;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #990000;">[THE PITCH]</span></b> When I listen to a song on the way to practice, or a match,
or just hanging out, I hardly ever contemplate the hours of hard work that went
into making the music. I simply roll down the windows, turn up the volume, and
cruise. Although there is a perceivable transformation in my disposition, it is
driven by a blind devotion to attractive melodies. However, when I watch a live
performance, in which the musicians, singers, instruments, and electronics
blend before my eyes, the power emanating from the stage triggers a deep
emotional reaction, as well as a greater appreciation for the art. Watching
football is a lot like that… entertaining, exciting…emotional! Franklin Foer, who wrote, <i>How Soccer Explains the World</i> said,
“Soccer isn't the same as Bach or Buddhism. But it is often more deeply felt
than religion, and just as much a part of the community's fabric...” I’ve
always felt a link between music and football, but I really haven’t taken the
time to try and connect the dots...<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Two things sparked my exploration of the correlation between
soccer and song… the first was an interview I had with Christian Brookes, whose
blog covers both music and football. The resulting article, which I thoroughly
enjoyed reading, can be found <a href="http://beatsandrhymesfc.com/christen-press-interview-new-us-scoring-sensation-lets-enchantment-illuminate-the-way/" target="_blank">here</a>. </div>
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<br /></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2mWMjmJFGkwkyHaAQtVLn6taCfl7d9etcIX3Esl2r8wClXdgkgovTz_wdXOQHvw9QSduumASfjQR4_IfFw02NNdbMJJnYgivh9kWELC5_iqVA59_0jEUvBMGy0SyABmSkMqD0hwWGFBQ/s1600/IMG_1587.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2mWMjmJFGkwkyHaAQtVLn6taCfl7d9etcIX3Esl2r8wClXdgkgovTz_wdXOQHvw9QSduumASfjQR4_IfFw02NNdbMJJnYgivh9kWELC5_iqVA59_0jEUvBMGy0SyABmSkMqD0hwWGFBQ/s320/IMG_1587.jpg" width="270" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">With my cousin Clark and my father.</td></tr>
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Also, last week I met with my cousin Clark Gayton in
Stockholm. (It’s always amazing to see someone close to me in this foreign,
foreign land). Clark, a talented musician, is one year into a four-year world
tour with Bruce Springsteen and was in town for a show. I appreciated chatting
with my cousin about working with two superstars, (first Sting and now Bruce),
as I’ve been fortunate to play with a few superstars myself. Our conversation
was the second thing that really got me to thinking about the similarities and
differences in great bands in music and great teams in football.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
There are several similar qualities required for a
successful band and a successful team: talent and skill, practice and
dedication, tolerance for and management of a nomadic lifestyle, pursuit of
harmony, and acceptance of the occasional <i>sour</i>
note. Great music is considered Fine Art…and we call a well-played match, “The
Beautiful Game.” Although there are some obvious differences (like the fact
that I’ve yet to see the conductor sub-out a violinist because he was playing
too slowly), one or two stand out the most to me. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
Clark told me that there is a major characteristic that
Sting and Bruce have in common: super-sized EGOS. (Well, they don’t call the
latter “The Boss” for nothing.) Both these mega stars <i>dictate</i> their bands as well as entertain their audiences. Rumor has
it that The Boss has said, “I hate a @#$%! with an opinion.” And, my dad claims to have witnessed Sting
strutting around backstage after a show in L.A. wearing a silk smoking jacket
with his nose in the air. The music industry is very much <i>star</i> driven. Great singers are center stage. Headliners are “the
show” and everyone else is “back up.” In contrast, football is <i>team</i> driven. No matter how much
football’s superstars—even Messi and Ronaldo—stand out, no matter how big the
impact they have on the game, they never go “solo.”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
In football, team captains are usually the <i>inglorious</i> center-backs who connect with
the coach and orchestrate the team. Successful teams accept these reciprocal
roles; as cooperation and a “team first” mentality are paramount to winning.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
Ahhhh winning…that’s a big differentiating factor in music
and football. Although often played in football stadiums, concerts are rarely
competitive. As an athlete I have to admit, I love that part of the game…the
chance to win! And as soundtracks go, I wouldn’t be the least bit opposed to
hearing a tune like …<i>We are the Champions</i>
playing after our final home match of Damallsvenskan!<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<b><span style="color: #990000;">[Stoppage Time] </span></b>After our most recent 1-1 tie against Damallsvenskan
newcomer Mallbackens IF, my teammate wrote on Twitter: “The war is long and you
don’t win or lose until the end.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
It’s almost inevitable that during a 22 game season, every
team will hit a little slump. It’s not so usual that that slump happens right
in the beginning of the season. There is a good and bad side to this story. The
bad side is: well, it’s really frustrating. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
The good side is that the process of rebounding from these
slumps is what builds team character. And for us to get that chance early on
will be a clear advantage, in my opinion. It’s ironic that we’ve been
struggling to play as a cohesive unit on the field, when I feel the team is
quite in stride in every other way. We <i>all</i>
feel it’s not good enough. We <i>all are</i>
a little frustrated... with ourselves, and with the team. We <i>all</i> expect more. And most importantly, we all trust it will
get better. I have faith…and it’s better to sizzle like the Memphis Grizzlies than to fizzle like the LA Clippers. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
Final Score:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
TFF 1 – Mallbackens IF 1<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<b><span style="color: #990000;">[Off The Post<i><span style="font-size: large;">!</span></i>] </span></b>My dad has an affinity for self-proclaimed nicknames. I have
written before about how he has spent my 24 years of life trying to get me to
call him Big Daddy… Well, during his most recent visitation, he was at it
again. Big Daddy was all too excited for his visit to Sweden when he realized
my Spanish roommates gave him an excuse to practice his insuppressible and excruciating
Español. After failing to convince everyone that back home he is known, like
Bruce Springsteen, as <i>El Jefe… </i>he
switched gears and told them that his golf club members nicknamed him “The
Fresh Prince” because he was the first African-American member of Bel Air
Country Club. Little did he know that <i>las
Españolas</i> had taken one look at him and immediately recalled the TV series…
So, for my team here in Sweden, he will forever be known as “Felipe!”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<!--EndFragment--></center>
<center style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;">
<span style="color: #990000;">RFL</span>,</center>
<center style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;">
<img height="56" src="http://i1079.photobucket.com/albums/w515/readytoblog/christen_signature.png" width="200" /></center>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06633982287638051335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9080695675561448571.post-92050191589552134732013-05-02T22:14:00.001-07:002013-05-18T07:31:16.158-07:0010. Games, Changes and Fears.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<center style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;">
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHchR_oXEyd92X2euXt0_0tvKfjPw81xMFtSpmP_OuEoKHKC_hcTFl7rCQC7bqMv1gjoTY5y5Nxv1Zd8aw1mevexZftA7JYMxRk-TJMrXbkTpc9Br4gEzMC4mrW7cPHqFEyfRxGQSYSOU/s1600/photo.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="602" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHchR_oXEyd92X2euXt0_0tvKfjPw81xMFtSpmP_OuEoKHKC_hcTFl7rCQC7bqMv1gjoTY5y5Nxv1Zd8aw1mevexZftA7JYMxRk-TJMrXbkTpc9Br4gEzMC4mrW7cPHqFEyfRxGQSYSOU/s640/photo.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">HoH Family Portrait.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #990000; font-size: large; text-align: left;">[THE PITCH]</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">“Games, changes and fears<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">When will they go from here<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">When will they stop.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Last year, when my family and I visited Stockholm during a
break in the season, we made a point to see The Changing of The Guards at
Sweden’s Palace in Gamla Stan. Official uniforms, a band, and synchronized
movements are all a part of this ritual, celebrating national pride. A large
crowd of tourists come together to, quite simply, watch the guards switch shifts.
I’ve seen the Changing of the Guards in Oslo, Norway and London, England as
well. It happens in many different countries throughout the world. And so it seems
that I am not the only one to make a big deal out of change. To gain
perspective (but mostly to make my case for being melodramatic) I have enlisted
the wisdom of those far more astute than myself to play the role of
provocateur. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY938rEKC5Xq3cjmSzYXq4ntI7QI1OkqcS9QPKN5xzhPdaNNjwtVnBxqKDkkqKp7ka-iYCCt5g7uDGqqnsAZ7QCgyvFfIvlWRKh7mPYkRdZVnd7HRj30FlcR0QbZlyK2eOp05yeK8s45w/s1600/photo+(1).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY938rEKC5Xq3cjmSzYXq4ntI7QI1OkqcS9QPKN5xzhPdaNNjwtVnBxqKDkkqKp7ka-iYCCt5g7uDGqqnsAZ7QCgyvFfIvlWRKh7mPYkRdZVnd7HRj30FlcR0QbZlyK2eOp05yeK8s45w/s200/photo+(1).JPG" width="200" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">TFF v Vittsjö</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">So many of my blogs have referred back to that moment when I
decided to move to Sweden. In that instant, I changed my career path,
relationships, and home. It seems to be the pivotal point in my life. After
years of developing a style of play that I was both comfortable with and proud
of, I was forced to change my style in order to fit a new role. Ugh!!! <span style="background-color: white;">Noted neurologist,</span> <span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: windowtext;">Viktor E. Frankl</span></span><span style="background-color: white;"> might argue,</span> “<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: black;">When we are no longer able to change a situation - we are challenged to
change ourselves.</span>” </span><span style="background-color: white;">Good
point…</span> While all that changing happened <i>to</i> me, something changed <i>within</i>
me. To find happiness in Sweden, I had
to change my perspective. I’m not sure of which I am more proud: taking the
leap or growing the wings. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="text-align: left;">And then, I changed teams again. New job…Bang…New
relationships…Bam…New home…Boom! One might think that after I’d garnered all
the benefits of change so many times before, the process would get easier. But
it isn’t. I continue to miss. I continue to resist. “</span><span style="background-color: white; text-align: left;"><span style="color: black;">Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through
continuous struggle.</span>” You’re right, Dr. King so I better stay tough<b>.</b></span><b style="text-align: left;"> </b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><o:p></o:p><br />
</span><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8ZIrqkXI8qo_dmPMbkx7nkulAL3L8H1IDT_Qn5rpOdek8sFTjCZy9An_XSoN65KpUy5k-IrT6sHOpf9aPIrmzoTjvhVb23wtRbP5waIceAjfWltph5wfj6APp9LYDQ7cClgWs78Hi8yo/s1600/image+(2).png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8ZIrqkXI8qo_dmPMbkx7nkulAL3L8H1IDT_Qn5rpOdek8sFTjCZy9An_XSoN65KpUy5k-IrT6sHOpf9aPIrmzoTjvhVb23wtRbP5waIceAjfWltph5wfj6APp9LYDQ7cClgWs78Hi8yo/s320/image+(2).png" width="242" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">TFF @ HoH</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">My head coach Tony has made a point to tell me that he
doesn’t want to cut off my edges to fit me into the team. “No need to change
you,” he says, “we can find you in our system.” Hmm… But with these new
players, this new system, and a totally different style <i>around</i> me, I’ve started to see the steadfast truth in life: <span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">“<span style="color: black; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time.
<i>We </i>are the ones we've been waiting
for. <i>We</i> are the change that we seek.</span>”
Truth President Obama! </span>If I am going to grow, I have to change.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">No, I’m not saying that I have to force this “square peg”
into a circle,—getting away from my strengths as a player—would be a mess. But
I am not opposed to a little nip and tuck…here and there. (I <i>am</i> an LA girl after all!!) They say that
football is a game of inches, and the small adjustments in timing and
positioning transform the game entirely. If so, then maybe my role last year
and my role this year are not so far apart…or perhaps they are colossally
different.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">In the past, it seemed as if change was something that
happened <i>to</i> me. I, in turn, had to
change to survive. But now as I look toward the season ahead of me, I can make
the choices myself. I can <i>choose</i> to
change; I can, for the first time, actively seek out the adjustments that will
allow me to thrive. As of now, I don’t know much for certain: not what these
changes will look like or when I will make them. But to that end, <span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">I think I’ll just let Winston Churchill have the
last word here. </span>“<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"><span style="color: black; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often.</span>”</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"><div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]-->
<!--[endif]--></span><o:p></o:p><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-size: large;">[Stoppage Time]</span> </span>The season is underway. It feels good to be in the swing of
things. Preseason is long, hard, and here in Sweden…a liiiitle bit chilly. We
are the favored team to win the league. So, automatically, that makes things ten
times harder. We are the only team to have three wins in our first three games.
But all three games were …well… hard.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
To finish at the top of the table, we are going to have to
find all sorts of different ways to win games. Our last two games are prime
examples. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
After squeaking out a 1-0 premier win against Umeå, we
traveled down to Vittsjö. We played the game against, (arguably)
Damallsvenskan’s most physical team, on (arguably) the worst grass I’ve played
on in quite some time. In light of the pitch conditions and to minimize the
risk of “bad field bad luck,” we changed our game plan to a very direct style,
similar to how our opponents played. Our 2-0 win meant more to us than the box
score, however, because we had to step outside ourselves to beat them at their
own game.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
And, then, this past weekend at home in our game versus
Linköping, it was one of those games…one of those games… where you are playing
really well, but can’t score. One of those games… where you are doing
everything right… but can’t score. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
Just moments before the end of the match, when the emotions
of the game started to swell up in the stadium, I let out a deep breath and
tried to remind myself, for the 1000<sup>th</sup> time, that I was sure that we
were going to score. A teammate looked over to me and said, “you’re going to
have one more chance” but I could see in her eyes she meant, “you’re going to
score.” While the media would comment about another close game for a team that,
perhaps, should be winning by larger margins (c/o Google translate and their
oh-so-doubtful intonations,) the steadfast faith demonstrated by my teammates seems
remarkable to me.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
To remain unwaveringly confident when you’re playing against
a strong opponent is no easy feat. To remain calm all the way into the final
minutes of a match in spite of all of the pressure and expectations is no
simple task. To ignore the soft whispers of self-doubt that grow louder as
every scoreless minute passes is something of which we can be quite proud. And
to score in the 88<sup>th</sup> and 91<sup>st</sup> minutes, snatching all
three points… well that’s just fun!<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
Highlights <a href="http://www.womenssoccerunited.com/video/tyres-2-0-link-ping-match-highlights-sweden-damallsvenskan-league" target="_blank">here</a>.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-size: large;">[Off
The Post</span><i><span style="font-size: x-large;">!</span></i><span style="font-size: large;">]</span> </span>#ThatAwkwardMoment
on the field when…</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #c0504d; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-themecolor: accent2;">@knowles1313</span>: getting
sniped, missing the ball, and getting a turf burn on my face... see picture
(i'm in white) <a href="http://bit.ly/107XjKo">http://bit.ly/107XjKo</a><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #c0504d; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-themecolor: accent2;">@CaitlinKyaw</span>:<a href="https://twitter.com/ChristenPress"></a> scored a goal and went to hug my
teammate, and both of us didn't know which way to face, and ended up kissing.
Awk<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #c0504d; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-themecolor: accent2;"><a href="https://twitter.com/ChristenPress"><span style="color: #c0504d; mso-themecolor: accent2; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">@rootchino</span></a>:</span> Broken thumb,
had a metal splint. Ref tied 2 big shinpads on my hand. Ran around for 90mins
with a giant ghetto oven mitt :(<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #c0504d; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-themecolor: accent2;"><a href="https://twitter.com/ChristenPress"><span style="color: #c0504d; mso-themecolor: accent2; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">@dquicky</span></a>:</span> tried2
intercept a pass, foot rolled on top of th ball n i smacked myslf in th face
wth my own knee, tried callin 4 a foul...<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #c0504d; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-themecolor: accent2;"><a href="https://twitter.com/ChristenPress"><span style="color: #c0504d; mso-themecolor: accent2; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">@megkuch</span></a></span>: getting
caught off sides 14 times in one game <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23notpayingattention&src=hash"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">#notpayingattention</span></a>
<a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23oops&src=hash"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">#oops</span></a><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #c0504d; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-themecolor: accent2;"><a href="https://twitter.com/ChristenPress"><span style="color: #c0504d; mso-themecolor: accent2; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">@joenooft</span></a></span>: scored my 1st
career goal as sweeper the proceeded to high knee/sprint back to my spot arms
in the air, holding up duces.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="background: white; color: #c0504d; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-themecolor: accent2;">@suth:</span> I was about 4
years old. While taking a breather I ended up standing in fire ants. Coaches
had to strip me down on the field.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
-only
because I picture this happening to max. and then him running around naked.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="background: white; color: #c0504d; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-themecolor: accent2;">@ANNA_gram:</span><span style="background: white; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span>Corner kicks
gone wrong (I'm in white) <a href="http://bit.ly/ZDvhdh">http://bit.ly/ZDvhdh</a><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<o:p><span style="color: #990000;">RFL, </span></o:p></div>
<!--EndFragment--></center>
<center style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;">
<img height="56" src="http://i1079.photobucket.com/albums/w515/readytoblog/christen_signature.png" width="200" /></center>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06633982287638051335noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9080695675561448571.post-9123191483125244922013-04-19T14:24:00.003-07:002013-04-19T15:13:45.629-07:00Body Language.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwwZ2uaf4ZF_ojqjfi9JUsJRSMpumJ80DrjW9CvH7HzrJDA8b_gY8KzwVDxHsBgwT1gaNPxD-AULi9BP4I8Riaz-c5mZs_1wizSI7ddHVvswAwcTb6g14NQh2lk3zWjXXzaGEoPycIBxM/s1600/IMG_0685.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="592" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwwZ2uaf4ZF_ojqjfi9JUsJRSMpumJ80DrjW9CvH7HzrJDA8b_gY8KzwVDxHsBgwT1gaNPxD-AULi9BP4I8Riaz-c5mZs_1wizSI7ddHVvswAwcTb6g14NQh2lk3zWjXXzaGEoPycIBxM/s640/IMG_0685.PNG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"><span style="color: #990000;">[THE PITCH] </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">“And don’t
underestimate the importance of body language.” –Ursula, from </span><i style="color: #222222;">The Little Mermaid</i></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="background: white; color: #222222; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In Offenbach,
Germany, a 16,000 standing-room-only crowd roared so loudly in the
echo-intense arena that those of us sitting inches apart on the bench could
hardly converse. The 22 American and German players on the pitch stood no
chance at communicating at all. Four days later, Holland’s Kyocera Stadium was
filled with an orange sea of 8,000
enthusiastic fans partaking in a spontaneous wave so strong, I seriously wondered
why the Dutch had not yet abandoned the use of windmills for energy... Needless
to say, my 90-minute in-game conversation with myself was completely unheard,
as well as all of my other attempts at communication with my teammates: calling
for the ball, setting the press, cheering…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 18pt; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 18pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #222222; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Back at the HOH...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Jenni is here. Tyreso's newest acquisition and Spanish international
finds herself between a rock and a hard place as she speaks neither Swedish nor
English. So, for the time being, Meghan Klingenberg (my fellow American
companion, housemate, and USWNT + Tyresö teammate, more popularly known as
Kling) and I speak English and some Spanish. Vero speaks Spanish and some
English and we all smile awkwardly and point a lot....trying to
communicate. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 18pt; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 18pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #222222; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Acclaimed management consultant Peter Drucker says, "The most
important thing in communication is hearing what isn't said." Ironically,
for me, this rings louder and truer everyday as I often find the most expedient
form of communicating is body language. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 18pt; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 18pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #222222; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Minutes before the start of the game vs. the Netherlands, Heather O’Reilley
ran over to me amid the noisy stadium. She had to shout for me to hear her,
making her point that much more clear. She said something to the extent of… in
a stadium where we can’t hear any verbal communication, the way we carry
ourselves becomes that much more important. As strikers, the rest of the team
will be looking toward you throughout the game, and it’s imperative to exude
energy, positivity, and good body language for the rest of the team to feed
off.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 18pt; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 18pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #222222;">I've gotten used to reading players' body language
and waiting for their cues on the field. In fact, forwards spend the whole game
deciphering codes based on teammates approach and set up to the ball to determine
when and where to make runs. But now, since playing for both Tyresö FF and the
US, I’ve noticed that the player on the ball often waits for me to signal them
where to pass the ball. So I have to keep that in mind. While I'm reading them,
they are reading me! It is a fluid exchange of signals that neither starts nor
ends with the match.</span><span style="color: #222222; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 18pt; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 18pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #222222; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">There is a whole series of nonverbal cues before the game: tons of energy is created through the exchange of high fives, pregame dancing, and
smiles. Sometimes the pre-game music plays so loudly the inevitable sing-a-long
is drowned out completely (and in my case that's a good thing!!), so all that's
left is an amped up scene of hearts pounding and fists pumping.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In time we become, though sometimes subconsciously, aware of one
another's manners, styles, and cues. For example, Kling has a unique cross that
very unexpectedly bends speedily behind the defensive line. As a forward
running into the box, I wouldn't know to run in front of the defender to the
near post or fill the space in behind unless I could read her body language.
Her approach before playing this ball is atypical, which makes it deceptive for
both the defender and the other attackers, but now I’ve learned her "tell"
and can react before she kicks the ball. Every time we train, I become more
fluent in our only universal dialect: body language.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 18pt; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 18pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #222222; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">On the other hand, we quite consciously try to crack our opponent's body
language codes, which can make our job easier in the match. </span><span style="color: #222222; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">For example, defenders use their body with
the intent of dictating what you do with the ball. It is the job of an attacker
to pick up on that body code and exploit it to your advantage. You can do
exactly what they don’t want you to do, forcing them to readjust and possibly
gaining that invaluable extra second, orrrr not. I’ve noticed that if a
defender “gives” Marta one side, she explodes past them right through
it...hmmm...how do you say "See ya sucker!" in Portuguese? </span><span style="color: #222222; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 18pt; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 18pt; text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #222222; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I am happy to report that communications
are improving all around. Right before our first game in <i>Damallsvenskan</i>, I made a point of trying to encourage our new
teammate and friend. So, in slightly botched Spanish, I asked Jenni how she was
feeling. <i>Un poco nerviosa. </i>I tried to
tell her not to feel alone on the field and that we are all in this together.
We ended up laughing at my misused cognate, but her thumbs up let me know she
got my intent. After the match—a win and a great premier—she ran over to me and
gave me a big hug and a smile. I couldn't help but smile too. Message
sent...message received.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkcMI9LWdwjS_c3aEjMCQbaY8aEZM-K1wy-uT1O91lxVOznfpQVEhfHxcqll-_4M32EoOl6PZYku0JX84u725VTQDw6uiVwj1JYTkuqztuvtvuVAiuj7DzpGrVWUYIoA05zHEbM08gppM/s1600/IMG_0707.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="436" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkcMI9LWdwjS_c3aEjMCQbaY8aEZM-K1wy-uT1O91lxVOznfpQVEhfHxcqll-_4M32EoOl6PZYku0JX84u725VTQDw6uiVwj1JYTkuqztuvtvuVAiuj7DzpGrVWUYIoA05zHEbM08gppM/s640/IMG_0707.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
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</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 18pt; text-align: left;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #222222; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><b>USWNT 3 – Germany 3</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 18pt; text-align: left;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<a href="http://www.ussoccer.com/media-library/videos/highlights/wnt/2013/130405_wntvger/wnt-vs--germany--field-level-highlights---april-5--2013.aspx" target="_blank"><b>High</b><b style="line-height: 18pt;">lights</b></a></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 18pt; text-align: left;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 18pt; text-align: left;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b><span style="color: #222222; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">USWNT 3 – Holland 1<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 18pt; text-align: left;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b><span style="color: #222222; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://www.ussoccer.com/media-library/videos/highlights/wnt/2013/140409_wntvned/wnt-vs--netherlands--field-level-highlights---april-9--2013.aspx" target="_blank">Highlights</a></span></b></div>
</div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 18pt; text-align: left;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b><span style="color: #222222; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Tyresö FF 1 – Umeå IK 0<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; line-height: 18pt; text-align: left;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b><span style="color: #222222; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://www.womenssoccerunited.com/video/tyres-1-0-ume-match-highlights-sweden-damallsvenskan-league-16t-1" target="_blank">Highlights</a></span></b></div>
</div>
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<br /></div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #990000;">RFL</span>,</div>
</div>
<!--EndFragment--></center>
<center style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;">
<img height="56" src="http://i1079.photobucket.com/albums/w515/readytoblog/christen_signature.png" width="200" /></center>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06633982287638051335noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9080695675561448571.post-5290709057647388012013-04-03T04:09:00.000-07:002013-05-16T09:32:32.634-07:00Invictus<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Invictus<br />
<center>
</center>
<div>
By Willian Earnest Henley</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Out of the night that covers me,</div>
<div>
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,</div>
<div>
I thank whatever gods may be</div>
<div>
For my unconquerable soul.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
In the fell clutch of circumstance</div>
<div>
I have not winced nor cried aloud.</div>
<div>
Under the bludgeonings of chance</div>
<div>
My head is bloody, but unbowed.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Beyond this place of wrath and tears</div>
<div>
Looms but the Horror of the shade,</div>
<div>
And yet the menace of the years</div>
<div>
Finds, and shall find, my unafraid.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
It matters not how straight the gate,</div>
<div>
How charged with punishments the scroll.</div>
<div>
I am the master of my fate:</div>
<div>
I am the captain of my soul.</div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06633982287638051335noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9080695675561448571.post-4404871835984209702013-04-02T10:50:00.000-07:002013-05-02T22:15:04.364-07:006. X.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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</div>
<b><span style="color: #990000;"><br /></span></b>
<b><span style="color: #990000;">[THE PITCH] </span></b>The past two weeks marked the Quarter Finals of UEFA Women’s
Champion’s League. Due to weather issues, the Swedish league season runs
opposite to the central European leagues, starting in spring and ending in the
fall. Which means that to qualify for Champions League you have to place in
Damallsvenskan 9months before the tournament begins. In order to play out a
Champion’s League season with a Swedish team, you have to sign for two seasons.
Switching clubs last winter meant missing out on the CL quarter final this
spring. So, over the past two Thursdays, I watched from my couch as Malmö and
Göteborg, my rival and former club, took on their French opponents in the
biggest club soccer tournament in the world.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Playing about 30 games with Göteborg last year and four
times against Malmö (as well as watching the latter on TV several times), I
feel quite familiar with the level of play of which these teams are capable when
at their best and, also, when they are not at their best. And, while I know
that the usual elements of travel, the away crowds, and playing on a grass
fields put both Swedish teams at a disadvantage for the first leg, there seemed
to be something more missing from their play both away and at home.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
While I can’t put my finger on exactly what was missing, I
could see it in the timing of their passing. It’s hard to describe precisely what
went wrong, but I could feel it as I observed the familiar Swedish faces.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
To put it simply, it appeared that neither Swedish team
looked “played in.” Some may argue that Lyon is the top women’s club in the
world because of the talented roster afforded by a considerable financial
advantage in the club. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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While of course, individual talent and economic benefit are
huge components contributing to the team’s success (did I hear something about
100 game no-losing streak?), there is something more to the story here. Lyon’s
cohesiveness and singular mindset, or “x” factor, give them the <i>true</i> edge. If a team is a sum of the
individual players’ ability then, the addition of the “x” factor puts the beauty
in the beautiful game for the fans, and the play in the game for the players.
The presence of the “x” factor differentiates a great team from merely a team
of great players. Like the sixth man in basketball, this variable is often the
deciding force in the outcome of games as well. So, where can I find this “x”? </div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In the case of Lyon, the majority of the team plays together
on the national team and a large number have been a part of <i>Les Lyonnaises </i>for years. Unlike many
women’s soccer environments today, the club is stable and established, so the
players do not have to live with a lingering fear of instantaneous
disintegration a la WUSA/ WPS. That being the case, players and the staff
certainly know each other, and they understand each other’s goals and football
philosophies. With that valuable information, they are better able to make each
other look good. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
On the other hand, both the Swedish teams were playing with significant
roster changes for the new season and on a two-month ‘training-only’
preparation for these important CL matches. And in the case of Gothenburg v
Juvisy, a match up of arguably equal rosters and resources, the more cohesive,
unified, organized side won. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As the season progresses with matches and trainings, teams
fight together, celebrate triumphs big and small, and commiserate failures both
minor and colossal. With each training session, players learn their teammates’
tendencies, triggers, signals, weaknesses and preferences. As a result, the
teams that have been together longer exhibit more confidence and are more
consistent. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The benefits from this type of bonding has the potential for
providing even more benefits. Research studies using virtual reality have
demonstrated that mother’s can run faster/ jump higher when trying to save
their babies compared to when they simply put forward their ‘personal best
effort.’ The same phenomenon can be found in football too. I’ve noticed that
players seem to move faster and work harder when they know their teammates are
counting on them. A simple example of this can be found in training for fitness
tests. No matter how many times I ran the “beep test” alone in preparation for
preseason, I always ran it better with my teammates at my side. Yes, perhaps it was the heat of a little
inter-squad competition, or perhaps it was something else: the feeling that
when your goals include more than just yourself, you can be bigger than
yourself, too. And through the mutual and consistent flow of blood, sweat,
and tears...a team of reckoning is born. . <b><o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Taking things one step further, playing on a team of players
that you know well and know you well creates a unique and advantageous training
environment. This atmosphere can cause the most successful moves in a game can
become the least successful moves in training. As your teammates learn your
style and moves, it becomes increasingly more difficult to wield those “bread
and butter” techniques and tactics during training sessions. Individual
predictability is a game killer. You must learn that counter move and push
yourself that much further to excel. Therefore, through training with familiar
players, the individual’s arsenal is forced to expand and the player, quite naturally,
grows. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
When it is all said and done, the bigger the stakes, the
bigger advantage a seasoned team has over their opponent. Knowing your
teammates well is like getting the answers the night before the test: it is
easier to stay one step ahead of the play, read the game faster and make moves
more quickly. I mention these factors, as an observer from the outside looking
in, not as excuses for the results in the CL Quarter Finals. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As the semi-finals edge nearer and nearer for the 4
remaining teams, Tyreso’ opportunity to play for this title sits idly. The
start of the 2014 CL is months away in the fall. And, perhaps, even in those early
rounds, we will possess the “factor” we might lack today. The time spent waiting… just might be exactly what
we need to prepare for this championship. Suddenly, it is clear…every touch,
pass, sprint, every match, every practice, and every meeting… we have an end
goal, and I, a sense of restored purpose.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #990000;">RFL,</span></div>
<!--EndFragment--><br />
<center style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;">
<img height="56" src="http://i1079.photobucket.com/albums/w515/readytoblog/christen_signature.png" width="200" /></center>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06633982287638051335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9080695675561448571.post-88637203819041641752013-03-27T04:36:00.000-07:002013-03-27T04:37:28.283-07:00If<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
by Rudyard Kipling<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
IF you can keep your head when all about you</div>
<div>
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,</div>
<div>
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,</div>
<div>
But make allowance for their doubting too;</div>
<div>
If you can wait and not be tired waiting,</div>
<div>
Or be lied about, don't deal in lies,</div>
<div>
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,</div>
<div>
And yet dont look too good, not talk too wise:</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<i>If you can dream - and not make dreams your master</i>;</div>
<div>
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;</div>
<div>
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster</div>
<div>
And treat those two impostors just the same;</div>
<div>
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken</div>
<div>
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,</div>
<div>
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,</div>
<div>
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools...</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06633982287638051335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9080695675561448571.post-25271213444138218072013-03-17T14:40:00.001-07:002013-04-02T10:48:20.236-07:005.Welcome. Make Yourself Uncomfortable.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH5ftQ8Ah-TrNV8GJFLV6HDGVn4TmjWplwYztQOZrU3fC15IAKUoaEU6uYzjwND_ddWDZ3C0Lpp6M0D4Ry-xrBCZ0F8x_LeTIa3gRjBQakDE9WWWNsiq8vZXAUfz8MIffLhbMKh9P_dgU/s1600/003.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="388" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH5ftQ8Ah-TrNV8GJFLV6HDGVn4TmjWplwYztQOZrU3fC15IAKUoaEU6uYzjwND_ddWDZ3C0Lpp6M0D4Ry-xrBCZ0F8x_LeTIa3gRjBQakDE9WWWNsiq8vZXAUfz8MIffLhbMKh9P_dgU/s640/003.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2kqaZwhAV0nQIIndS_ToIOXgtoOonu0b0hIvgcRyOMosOKP5x-4LnsyPOnkz3qL1NxtJ9bAJQcR2mOmk5Nkh8as4dm85-BQTBvZGkAuYeXhtsEvBSZ_bBFR-A_ZZfNv9kFZoVQUS7S3w/s1600/006.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2kqaZwhAV0nQIIndS_ToIOXgtoOonu0b0hIvgcRyOMosOKP5x-4LnsyPOnkz3qL1NxtJ9bAJQcR2mOmk5Nkh8as4dm85-BQTBvZGkAuYeXhtsEvBSZ_bBFR-A_ZZfNv9kFZoVQUS7S3w/s640/006.jpeg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">Photo Credit: Carl Sandin: http://carlsandin.blogspot.se/</span><span style="text-align: left;"> </span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</center>
<center style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #990000;">[THE PITCH] </span></b><span style="text-align: left;">It’s funny, when I graduated from high school I had no
problem saying goodbye to my teenage cohorts—Insecurity, Vanity, and Jealousy,
but</span><span style="color: green; text-align: left;"> </span><span style="text-align: left;">my other companion </span><i style="text-align: left;">Angst</i><span style="text-align: left;"> remained right by my side. Following me to college, </span><i style="text-align: left;">Angst</i><span style="text-align: left;"> was there when I choked on the
oatmeal and bananas breakfasts before practices, she was there holding my hair
back when I threw up after fitness tests, she stayed toe to toe with me on
breakaways, and huddled up with me after I missed. </span><i style="text-align: left;">Angst</i><span style="text-align: left;"> was nothing if not a loyal compadre….a nursemaid, in fact,
for </span><i style="text-align: left;">Angst</i><span style="text-align: left;"> was the maker of the bed in
which I would lie.</span></div>
</center>
<center style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv3M-M_VGzaRyHNEQQ2HmflK9wZ8HKeBrOgaAIjVQMPM2j5WW26CmgvJcrNd2id8lGdE_8yC_iuQb9rta9YmlwkB8F-6HQHUvAqLMCqassGrkEGtfoY-WHxr0diHuA9pqqKNQhhMpgkq4/s1600/IMG_0855.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv3M-M_VGzaRyHNEQQ2HmflK9wZ8HKeBrOgaAIjVQMPM2j5WW26CmgvJcrNd2id8lGdE_8yC_iuQb9rta9YmlwkB8F-6HQHUvAqLMCqassGrkEGtfoY-WHxr0diHuA9pqqKNQhhMpgkq4/s320/IMG_0855.PNG" width="317" /></a>I don’t remember exactly when I began to believe that <i>Angst</i> was the enemy in disguise. Her
influence over me was all encompassing and her presence enormous. I spent my
later college years trying to break up with <i>Angst</i>,
dump her. I worked hard to free myself from her weight on my shoulders, to
wiggle out of the shackles around my feet. Only a few years ago, just the
thought of getting a call-up to camp with the USWNT was the cue for <i>Angst</i> to run her cold, clammy hand down
my spine. I tossed and turned at night finding little comfort in my twin
extra-long bed, so dreams were few and far between in the spring of my senior
year.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
It was not, however, until my professional football career
that I was actually able to ditch <i>Angst</i>.
And in that freedom, I rejoiced. In Sweden last year, I adopted a new motto:
“Fail. Fail again. Fail better.” When I started to realize that I had already
missed, lost and failed a hundred times before, only to (eventually) convalesce
with a smile on my face, it became clear that there was no room in my young
adult life for the not-so-comforting governess of my youth. Perhaps, I’d
outgrown her. I suddenly found myself sleeping comfortably in my Dux bed
dreaming the dreams of dreamers…<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
So, by the time I went up for my first “at bat” with the
Full Team, <i>Angst</i> was but a spectator
in the nosebleeds. And I certainly did not invite her to board the plane to the
Olympics. The summer in London as an alternate was a unique opportunity for me
to get comfortable with the international game. Without the expectations and
pressure my teammates felt to bring back the gold (or had previously felt to
make the roster), I was free to play and practice and push unreservedly. And I
thought <i>Angst </i>and I had finally and
officially called it quits.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
For me, “getting comfortable” is not just about speed of
play and tactical understanding. It is not all about confidence in my abilities
on the field or knowing I can succeed at this level. A lot of my comfort on the
field, stems from my comfort off the field: in finding friends, in forging a
routine, in navigating this new life of extensive travel and constant movement
and managing what the Swedes have coined <i>hoteldödden
</i>(the hotel death.) And while adjusting to this lifestyle during what feels
like my first real opportunity to make this team, I’m rediscovering and
reconsidering my old friend <i>Angst</i>. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
I now have six caps under my belt. I’ve spent all but 40
minutes of my total time in a USWNT jersey playing in the midfield. I’ve
started three games. I’ve had moments where I felt I was at my best:
comfortable and confident and gliding. And I’ve had spouts of time where I was
uninvolved, lost, and totally disconnected out on the wing. I’ve scored goals
and felt reassured that I can, most certainly, do this; and still, the next day
I was too nervous during a warm-up to produce a clean five-yard pass, doubting
if I belong.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTRaUclB_OzxPW6lwHkA6ia-JCr27-cJQ5cmXKhnpgFZlC9mWpsV9Sbf7ByFo7DgNaocbv1kkJiznLWIFlBbN3u5US_IMIZwXxyfMAjutYuyGRebqsgDYnkl3wZxg9KKLk6ynNrUhRBUU/s1600/IMG_0862.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTRaUclB_OzxPW6lwHkA6ia-JCr27-cJQ5cmXKhnpgFZlC9mWpsV9Sbf7ByFo7DgNaocbv1kkJiznLWIFlBbN3u5US_IMIZwXxyfMAjutYuyGRebqsgDYnkl3wZxg9KKLk6ynNrUhRBUU/s320/IMG_0862.PNG" width="318" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
The USWNT might possibly be one of the most competitive
teams in the world. Head coach Tom Sermanni told Sports Illustrated in an
interview, “I haven’t seen many male teams train with quite the same intensity,
let alone any other female teams. In this team, you just don’t have to motivate
players. If anything, you need to sort of say, ‘Just be careful. I don’t want
anybody injured in training.” And I have the bumps and bruises to prove it.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
Perhaps I will never be quite comfortable on this team.
Won’t someone always be waiting in the wings? … Perhaps no one should ever be
comfortable on this team. Isn’t that what it means to be an elite athlete? The
last place you expect to find complacency is on the National Team. And I'm down with that. I think being totally comfortable is a dangerous thing in any realm
of life. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
This time around, I think I’ve found a suitable role for <i>Angst</i> in my life. I am embracing the
fact that her sloppy housekeeping makes for a lumpy, uncomfortable bed… which in
turn makes it a lot easier for me to get up everyday to run, train, and fight.
Like Jon Bon Jovi warns, “Don't get too comfortable with who you are at any
given time - you may miss the opportunity to become who you want to be.”</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGCLmS_VGl3MEC8TUnn4QuCM23K5eZ-rv1mki0Rc37itURFYkufmLv6YjsookQ9JfexcifV01flNfiy_BSCxdvMT7b1_FImPdgGhj4oejgGHicHURedx8Z5sSrwQ5nfFCDtrNYqGRBoms/s1600/IMG_0919.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="404" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGCLmS_VGl3MEC8TUnn4QuCM23K5eZ-rv1mki0Rc37itURFYkufmLv6YjsookQ9JfexcifV01flNfiy_BSCxdvMT7b1_FImPdgGhj4oejgGHicHURedx8Z5sSrwQ5nfFCDtrNYqGRBoms/s640/IMG_0919.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL-adqw57HOdgWhU-V6UEPe5XIunIovKNlAuHklMXIElFBawHPUMJ6m82YaQzc_9hiZGwJ4KPEDHW5GcTfwHGLzjd567yx_F2e_-orQooTFVslcKz6ZAH5S6AY-enqlx2MmvNDP2otBUM/s1600/IMG_0920.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="404" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgL-adqw57HOdgWhU-V6UEPe5XIunIovKNlAuHklMXIElFBawHPUMJ6m82YaQzc_9hiZGwJ4KPEDHW5GcTfwHGLzjd567yx_F2e_-orQooTFVslcKz6ZAH5S6AY-enqlx2MmvNDP2otBUM/s640/IMG_0920.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: #990000;">[Stoppage Time] </span></b><span style="text-align: left;">The Algarve: Iceland, China, Sweden, Germany</span></div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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On February 25<sup>th</sup>, the team traveled to Albuierfa,
Portugal to compete in its 18th Algarve Cup. The Algarve Cup is considered one
of the most prestigious international women’s football tournaments. The rainy
weather, the less that perfect pitch conditions, and the small fan base did not
detract from my excitement to be a part of these games!! The United States
arrived at The Algarve a week before the games began, extending our time there
to 18 days. So yes, by the end of our trip we had played every version of UNO
that you’ve never heard of and consumed more Indian Food than I had in the rest
of my life combined.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The team switched both personnel and formation throughout the
tournament, with Tom reminding us that he has one eye on today and one eye on
the future. The trip was filled with first caps, first starts, first goals, a
100<sup>th</sup> cap, a 154<sup>th</sup> goal, and ended with the trophy. For
many, the new cycle for US Soccer marks a rebirth for our international
careers, and above all else the trip was noted with big smiles and people
stepping up into new roles.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<a href="http://www.ussoccer.com/media-library/Videos/US-Women/2013/03/WNT-Goals-at-the-Algarve-Cup--9-for-9.aspx">http://www.ussoccer.com/media-library/Videos/US-Women/2013/03/WNT-Goals-at-the-Algarve-Cup--9-for-9.aspx</a><o:p></o:p></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06633982287638051335noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9080695675561448571.post-53406565732645883472013-03-16T10:58:00.000-07:002014-02-17T12:07:52.731-08:00All The World’s A Stage.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;">“All The World’s A Stage”: How the
rise and fall of the WPS led to a more globalized game.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;">This article originally appeared in the March 2013 issue of Our Game Magazine.</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #660000;">[Sidelines] </span>Playing international football is not always easy, nor is living
abroad or being in a constant state of transition. There is a lot that goes
into being a world traveler. The packing alone requires thought and effort, in
order to prepare for a successful journey. As traveling is part of being a
footballer, I always take the time. I always make the effort. After all, these
are small sacrifices in return for a chance to play the beautiful game!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;">So, in preparation for my move back to Sweden, I created a
playlist for the seemingly endless flight: a mixture of relaxing songs in acknowledgement
of another sad goodbye to home with some uplifting pop beats to celebrate a new
adventure. And that’s when I came across Swedish House Mafia’s hit, <i>Don’t You Worry Child. </i>I smiled as
memories flashed in my mind of friends from home singing to this song at a
nightclub and the countless spontaneous <i>dance
parties</i> that broke out in the locker room in Sweden to this favorite local
beat. The song reminded me that although there are 7,000 miles in between, my two
lives are not that far apart. As I turned on this tune during my
trans-continental flight, I thought how the Swedish artists performing high
energy House Music in English is symbolic for the globalization in football.
Like the sport of football, sharing <i>world</i>
<i>music</i> is a beautiful thing. I relaxed
as my mind drifted back, toward my past, and forth, toward the future... How
will the globalization of football play out?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;">In its short existence and with all its problems, the WPS
was undoubtedly the strongest women’s league in the world. The seven and then
six team organization planted a tight-knit network of elite female footballers
and seeds of globalization took root. The highest caliber of international
women footballers (including Marta, Carolyn Seger, Kelly Smith, Christine
Sinclaire, and Homare Sawa) flocked to the states to play alongside an
incredibly strong domestic group. During
its existence, very few Americans played
abroad, as rosters in Europe’s long-standing leagues were comprised almost
entirely of domestic players. However, when the WPS ceased operations, both
domestic and foreign players scattered throughout the world in search of clubs.
In 2011, my former team Kopparberg’s Göteborg FC roster was entirely Swedish.
Then, for 2012 they signed five internationals. For 2013, my current team
Tyresö FF’s includes two Americans, two Brazilians, a Dane, a Dutch, and a
Spaniard, all of whom once played in the US. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;">And where will all this “free trade” in football lead? Well, if my experience is any
indication, then, I think we are headed in the right direction. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;">From
watching international football, we see how stylistically distinct football can
be from different countries. From playing international football, I have observed
how much different styles of football reflect the attitude and concerns of the country’s
culture.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;">At
the top of the women’s game today, American soccer epitomizes physical
dominance and mental toughness, resulting in a fast-paced, intense football
style, reflecting a culture that emphasizes personal achievement and
competition. Of course, I was reared in this style of play. And then there is
Sweden, with its culture of “lagom.” <span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Roughly
speaking, <i>lagom </i>means in moderation or sufficient. From a young age,
Swedes are celebrated for fitting into the status quo. Not surprisingly, their
football style spotlights team tactics and fulfilling defined roles within the
unit. And although I will always proudly flaunt my American competitor attitude,
I’m <i>learning</i> to embrace this
“balanced approach.” <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;">I’ve found that when you have a blend of cultures and
football philosophies together on the field everyday, these international
teammates share ideas, skills, and training regimens and grow in ways they
might not be able to in a homogenous environment. In time, what often starts
out as a cacophony of styles, transforms into a very sophisticated melody. <i>Don’t you worry, don’t you worry child! </i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;">Football is the world’s sport. We’ve seen that for years on
the men’s side where even every small country, poor province and remote island
manages to field competitive teams. If women playing abroad is not proof enough
that a global philosophy is the sign of the times, then how about the fact that
both our men and women’s national teams are lead by foreign head coaches? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;">Now, with the commencement of the National Women’s Soccer
League in 2013, we shake things up again. The league will blend Mexican,
Canadian, and American national team players with a domestic group and
potentially two additional international players per team. The NWSL did not,
however, present the same immediate lure for international players as the WPS,
and many chose to stay in Europe. Time will tell how this crucial development
of the women’s game in the United States affects the world, as many
international and American players, myself included, look on from afar with
hopeful eyes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;">As for me, I am determined to make Sweden a part of me, both
on and off the pitch. I know there is so much to learn here. But just as
significant, I intend to leave my footprint here on the Swedish turf. As a
Californian, I believe in the beauty of The Melting Pot. Globalization in
football is the wave of the future…and the future is now!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<!--EndFragment--><br />
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</center>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06633982287638051335noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9080695675561448571.post-29960949052743455672013-03-05T13:51:00.000-08:002013-04-02T10:48:07.736-07:004.The Yellow Machine.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<center style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;">
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<b><span style="color: #990000;">[THE PITCH]</span></b> After my extended trip to Jacksonville, Florida, Nashville
Tennessee, and Helsinki, Finland, I was uncharacteristically exhausted and theatrically
glum. Considering just how much I had enjoyed my time stateside there was only
one reason for my melancholy. Jetlag…DUH! I fled into my bedroom, shut of the
lights, and with a maniacal grin, turned on mindless television for hours at a
stretch under the pretense of “resting” and “recovering.” Yet somehow I still
overslept three days in a row! (Much to the astonishment of my <i>little penguin</i> housemate, who was kind
enough to wake me up just in the nick of time for training.) However, as I
unpacked and attempted to settle back into my home and routine, I realized I
had just 10 days until my next trip to Algarve, Portugal. <o:p></o:p></div>
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In Finland I suffered a minor knee injury (a bust bursa),
and to my dismay would be sidelined for a good part of my short time home. In
the wake of such an exciting week in the US, I experienced a strong emotional
let down exacerbated by my inability to train. And, once again, “the little girl inside” reared her head and I
responded to the situation by locking myself in my room. I declined invitations
to spend time with friends and chose to stay in bed rather than watch practice
in the cold. I racked my brain, searching for a way for me to “fix” the problem:
<i>just shake it off! </i> But maybe turning to myself <i>was</i> the problem. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Then, like a well-aimed spitball on a school playground…it
hit me! A blue mood and a week of rehab did not cause my excessive yawning or
my excessive frowning. There was stress ‘bubbling up’ from under the surface
and my “chill” week gave me just the quiet time to hear to hear it. <o:p></o:p></div>
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So, during practice as my teammates ran, kicked, and skipped
merrily along, I ruminated upon my personal frustrations. Getting a call for a USWNT
camp or tournament will always beis a blessing in my life, but it will have a unique
impact on my time abroad. The life of ‘an international footballer’—in both
senses of the term: as a player who plays abroad and a full team player
competing inter-nationally—certainly ain’t easy! Missing training games and
training sessions with my club team gives me anxiety. I don’t like to lose out
on these opportunities to learn my teammates flow and style on the field, grow
closer to my companions, and explore the new world in which I live. I’m getting
impatient as these things develop sloooowly over time. Don’t get me wrong,
there is no doubt in my mind that this is where I want to be in my life and
career, but I will undoubtedly have to adjust to the new flow and rhythm to get
the most out of both of my playing environments.<o:p></o:p></div>
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My knee didn’t recover as quickly as we had hoped so I had
to sit out our match versus Umeå IK. Watching from the stands sometimes feels like
being in detention while all of your friends are on the playground at recess.
And while inherently frustrating for any player, today my stadium seat proved
to be an ideal vantage point. The cold, crisp air blowing in my face was
refreshing…awakening, in fact. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Whenever I watch football, I always envision myself out
there on the field; whether I’m watching Real Madrid or my little cousin Max’s
pee-wee soccer team. (Note: I might be “the pee-wee” playing in Estadio
Santiago Bernabéu, but in the pre-school game, I’m “Ronaldo.”). Like the soccer
moms of the world, I sometimes find myself kicking air when watching a scoring
opportunity or experiencing the vicarious nervousness of the striker on a fast
break. So, even though I was not actually on the turf on Saturday, I could <i>feel</i> the frustration emanating from the
usually smooth running yellow machine that is Tyreso. There is actually a sign
in our locker room that reads: A … Yellow Machine!” (An adjective is missing, here. but let’s
just say, that inclusion of such a word would be grounds for serious detention
at Lunada Bay Elementary School.) Well,
far be it from me to dispute the graphic characterization of the usually
tenacious ‘engine’ that has rolled over more than a team or two in
Damallsvenkan, But there are times when I picture this “yellow machine” more
like the school transportation of my youth: so welcoming and reliable, I
couldn’t wait to take my seat! On that particular day, however, unable to
physically contribute, I played bystander as the wheels fell off the bus. <o:p></o:p></div>
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On the pitch (and off) when things go wrong, we often turn
inward. When the pieces to the puzzle don’t fit together, we, as individuals,
do our best to force them. Collaboration often seems like the more difficult
option. However, as in the case of Tyreso vs. Umeå, the solution to a problem
with flow and rhythm cannot be achieved through individual effort.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=9080695675561448571#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>When
things aren’t going well, fixing what’s wrong requires trust, understanding,
and simplification. <o:p></o:p></div>
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I have come to love the simplicity of many of my
interactions in this English-is-a-second-language land. In the uncomplicated
terms of a Kindergarten teacher speaking to her class, my teammate spoke about
what to do when a great team is playing not-so-great, ‘if we just trust in a
few players who know the game and know the team, then we will all know our <i>role</i>.” Hmmm… Maybe my first grade
teacher’s comment, “Plays well with others” was the perfect report card after
all.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=9080695675561448571#_ftn2" name="_ftnref2" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[2]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a> <o:p></o:p></div>
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Football is like the big yellow bus of life. Playing and
riding are a lot more enjoyable as a group. And they both run much more
efficiently with the proper alignment. Yes, there are going to be many bumps in
the road, but learning to rely on one another is what makes <i>the wheels on the bus go round and round</i>…
<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=9080695675561448571#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>
Yea yea, we all know winning ugly is possible. But that’s not our goal at Tyresö.<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
<div id="ftn2">
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<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=9080695675561448571#_ftnref2" name="_ftn2" title=""><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family: Cambria; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "MS Mincho"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">[2]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a>
Like the expression goes…everything you need to know you learned in Kindergarten!<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="color: #990000;">RFL,</span></div>
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