What a Wonderful Experience

Yesterday, March 22 2011, I attended a practice from the US National team here in Cary, North Carolina. I have been going to the Soccer Stadium in Cary since it opened. I have actually played in the training fields quite a few times with my own soccer team.

I have been to a lot of soccer training facilities in the world, and have to say that few match the quality of the turf, the surroundings with trees and nature and the tranquility that a team can have to train. No wonder the US federation keeps selecting it as its training facility. The weather in March also helps. It was around 68 degrees and very pleasant.
I have to praise the maintenance team that must be incredibly dedicated. I have seen how they cover the entire training fields with these enormous tarps which protect the grass from the worst cold temperatures. This requires a lot of planning, care and dedication.
The US National team is preparing for 2 friendly matches against Argentina and Paraguay in the upcoming week, that’s why they are together. In this group are Landon Donovan, who has played in the past 3 World Cups; Clint Dempsey who has played in the past 2 and is having a stellar season in England, Casey Keller also having a great season in England and many other US stars.

They performed a series of drills, scrimmages and warm ups, always showing great dedication and professionalism. Yesterday was Tuesday and many of them had late games on Sunday afternoon in Europe and flew immediately to the US. And of the 23 players only one wasn’t able to arrive on time. This shows the dedication and commitment that these players have to defend the US National team.
A soccer career is short, at best 15 years if a player is lucky to stay healthy and not see their physical attributes such as speed and strength decrease over the years. A star player can reach 100 caps with their national team, but it’s not common. Landon Donovan has 129 caps at age 29, really an amazing feat along with a record of 45 goals scored. After him Carlos Bocanegra, the team captain has 85 caps, Clint Dempsey 68 and Oguchi Onyewu 58.
The whole session lasted a little over an hour and it was a great experience. It was open only for RailHawks season ticket holders and I openly thank my friend Rick Thompson, another huge soccer fanatic, for the opportunity to attend this event.