Chalupa Chat

The Athletica season has begun! We have played two games so far and have gotten very unlucky to not have anything to show for our hard work. We lost in a tight battle to the Chicago Red Stars in our home opener, 1-0. Aside from the score, it was a perfect night. We had a great crowd, and good weather. It was a perfect atmosphere for a soccer game. Last weekend we traveled to Boston where we played the Breakers in their home opener. It was a chilly, rainy night and we again came up empty handed. We are doing our best not to get discouraged though. It is a long season and we feel like we have played spurts of really good soccer. We have the LA Sol coming up in two weeks at home so we are looking for our first win then.  

P.S. I am not left handed

Bom Dia from Portugal. The trip is going very well so far. We have had some great training sessions and an exciting scrimmage game against Djurgarden, a Swedish club team. 

There is plenty of down time between practices, meals and meetings, most of which I have spent watching DVDs. I highly recommend Changeling with Angelina Jolie. I have also watched Nights in Rodanthe and Vicky Christina Barcelona. Plus, I have gotten hooked on another TV show, The Unit. Foreign trips are a good time to catch up on movies and TV shows since there isn’t much else to do. The internet is slow (and that’s an understatement), and there aren’t many English channels on the TV so we have to find ways to entertain ourselves.

We have also started a trip-long competition where we play some sort of game almost every day. We started off with a popular game we call “Fact or Fiction”. Each player writes down three true statements and one false statement about them self and we have to decide which is not true. For example, my set could be: 

I do not like seafood

I am afraid of heights

I prefer a window seat on airplanes

I am left handed

(answer to come…)

Even though many of us have known each other for a long time and have spent so much time together there is still so much we don’t know. One thing I do know, however, is that whenever a competition is involved and a score is kept, things get pretty intense.  For that game, we were split into an east coast team and west coast team and I was thrown onto the east. We took the game and the first 3 points of the trip.  We also had a crossbar competition in pairs in which Kendall Fletcher and I got no points. And, a memory game (not my strong suit) where Hope and I came in 4th, again no points. We still have a long way to go so I’m hoping for a dramatic comeback. 

That’s it for now…back to my dvd’s.

It has been an exciting few weeks at home with more WPS information getting finalized and our regular season schedule becoming public. It’s been great to see so much support from the St. Louis media so we have been able to get word out to a lot of people. 

I’m excited to be going to Portugal for the 6th time. This is one of those trips you  really look forward to. Not only is it a great tournament but the weather is usually really nice and we stay at the same hotel every time so we know where to venture out to. Great pizza and crepes are just a few blocks away. Plus, the beach is in walking distance. Needless to say, we’re not roughing it by any means.

On another note, I want to let you all know that I will be holding a summer camp this year. I am still trying to finalize a couple of small details like when and where but I will post all of the information on the site as soon as I can. If you would like to receive information as soon as it becomes available you can sign up with your e-mail address on the “summer camp” tab.

Welcome back!! 2009 is off to a great start! We are back in sunny California for our pre-Algarve Cup training camp. We have been here for a week already and are just about half the way through the trip. We have had some tough training sessions as we sharpen up our individual and team defending but it is always great to get back out there. My body was in a bit of shock after nearly a month away from the field and my legs were screaming at me for the first few days but I think they have surrendered and I am feeling great. I’m excited to see what the new year brings!

We have just one more game left in this portion of the “Achieve Your Gold” Tour. We arrived in Chicago this afternoon and have the rest of the day to check out the city. We had a really good time the first two legs of the tour. While we were in New York we found out to which city we were each allocated for the start of the Women’s Professional Soccer League (WPS) which starts next year. I was so happy to find out that I will playing for the St. Louis team. I like the way the team is looking. Great management, great coach, and two world class teammates in Hope Solo and Tina Ellertson. It’s exciting to be a part of the start of something like the WPS. Go St. Louis!!

Wow!! What an amazing few days. We were awarded the gold medal a week ago and I still can’t believe it. I am at a loss for words. I am just so proud to be a part of this team. It was truly a team win. I felt a togetherness especially in the final but in the games leading up to it as well. I never felt alone out there. I knew all of my teammates were behind me. I thought we displayed some great soccer during the tournament as well.

Losing the first game was tough on all of us. Our backs were up against a wall and for me personally not to be able to help the team in the next game because of a concussion I suffered was difficult. But, It was inspiring and motivating to watch the game from the bench. Everyone rallied together, we never had any doubt, and we squeaked out a win against a very good Japanese side. It wasn’t a convincing win but we did have some great moments and, knowing how good Japan is we were happy with the result. I was very excited to get back out there in the game against New Zealand. We had seen parts of their recent games and thought they looked very good. They had gotten some good results in their games so we knew we had to play well. I think we gained a lot of confidence and started playing really well together during that game. We kept possession much better than we had in the past few games and finished our chances really well. We were excited to be moving on to the quarterfinals.

The game against Canada was a tough one. We scored an early goal and felt great, like everything was clicking until the rain started pouring down. We spent over an hour in the locker room waiting for the lightening to stop before resuming the first half. Canada made some great adjustments coming in to that period and we lost some of the momentum we had. They scored late in the first half to tie it up and we battled scoreless for the rest of regulation. In the overtime period Natasha Kai scored and we hung on to win the game. I was really happy with the way we played in that game as well. We had some really good series of passes, we got everyone involved in the attack and we battled the whole game. By winning that game we got to travel to Beijing for our next two games and we got to stay in the Olympic Village which was a thrill. It is so neat to walk around and see so many Olympians, everyone proudly wearing their country’s gear. It felt so great just to know I was a part of it.

In our semi final match we faced Japan again. It was good to play a team we were familiar with but it is tough to beat a team of their caliber twice in a tournament. We actually went down 1-0 early in that game and came back to win 4-2. I scored a goal to go up 2-1 late in the second half. It was possibly the biggest goal of my career and one I will never forget.

After that is was on to the finals against Brazil. We faced them last year in the World Cup and lost 4-0 so it was special to face them again but for me the game was less about revenge or redemption but simply about winning the gold. We knew they had some great players on the team and we had to make some adjustments for their players but we just refused to give in. We bent many times in that game but we never broke and I believe that was because of how united the group was. Carli Lloyd scored a great goal in overtime and we just hung on. When the whistle blew I couldn’t believe it. I still can’t believe it. Standing on the podium, getting that medal and singing the national anthem was everything I thought it would be. I thought about how awesome it is to represent our country, and I thought about all of the people who helped myself and the team get there. It was such an amazing feeling.

Sideline Sports Photography, LLC

Only one more day until game day! We practiced on the stadium field today for about 45 minutes in order to get a feel for it. The stadium is beautiful and the grass is perfect. I get good vibes from the field. We can’t wait to play the game!

Yesterday we had the day off and we were able to do a little more sightseeing. This time we saw the beginning of the Great Wall, the area they call Dragon’s Head. It jets out into the water and is a pretty amazing sight. There was a lot less stair climbing and steep walkways at this section of the wall which I was excited to see. We walked around for about an hour before heading back to the hotel. It was nice to get out for a bit.

Nicole Barnhart and me at Dragon's Head

Days off can seem quite long sometimes since there isn’t much to do in the hotel rooms. I have finished knitting my first square block, the beginning of my quilt. It is an ambitious project but I’m going for it. I have started on my second piece now. I’m really focusing on having no holes in this one. I hope to show great improvement. The second project I have started is a color by number picture. I know…I know…kindergarden called and wants their colored pencils back. I figure If you average out the normal age demographic for both of those activities you might come close to my actual age. I have also watched quite a few movies since arriving, my favorite being “No Reservations”.

That’s it for now. We have one more practice tomorrow before the game on Wednesday. We are preparing our minds and bodies and trying to stay hydrated. Can’t wait!

We have arrived and settled in to our new location in Qinhuangdao, a smaller city that sits right along the Bohai Sea. It is actually the site of the start of the Great Wall. They call it Dragon’s Head and it starts out in the Sea. We hope to go see it during our stay here. We arrived on Sunday night after taking a short train ride from Beijing. The trip was my first time on a real train and it was a pretty fun experience. We all piled onto the train in Beijing and entertained ourselves for the two hour ride. Once we got close to our destination we were told to pack up and be ready to run once the train stopped and the doors opened because we had to get our entire team off, including carry-on luggage in about 60 seconds. Luckily I was toward the front of the pack so I wasn’t too nervous but we did have to hustle off. Pia made it off with just 5 seconds remaining in the count down. As it turns out they gave us a little more than a minute before the train started moving again but we weren’t taking any chances.

We arrived at the hotel with a very warm welcome. Every member of the hotel staff gathered around clapping for us as we entered and checked in. Everyone has been so eager to help out in any way they can.

We have had a few really good practices since arriving including a scrimmage game against China yesterday. It was really nice to beat up on someone besides our own teammates and get some game time to work on some things. It was also good to get out there and get acclimated to the weather. It has taken a few days but we are all beginning to feel much more comfortable in the humidity.

Today we had a day off so we mostly just relaxed around the hotel. We went shopping this afternoon for a little while. It was nice to get out of our rooms for a few hours. We get right back into it tomorrow with practice and a weight lifting session. I can’t believe we have been here a week already. Time flies…

Well we finally got to play a little soccer today. It sure was nice to be back on the field after not playing for about a week. Our bodies and minds are refreshed and we are excited to get down to business. Our two sightseeing trips were a blast. On Friday we went to the Forbidden City which is the area where the Emperors used to live. I was amazed by the size of it. It felt like we kept walking and walking and didn’t even see half of it. On one side of the Forbidden City is Tiananmen Square which is also massive. Apparently, that area alone is big enough to fit one million people. It was so cool walking around seeing flowers and statues in the shape of the Olympic rings and the slogan for the Games this year, “One World, One Dream” seemed to be everywhere you looked.

The next day we drove about an hour to a portion of the Great Wall where we were able to climb up. When we got there we were told to go to the right if we wanted an easy path and go to the left if we wanted a little harder path. Thinking we were all fit and athletic we decided to go to the left but Tarp (Lindsay Tarpley) and I didn’t make it too far. First of all, we should have looked at the so called easy section before deciding the hard path because once we got a chance to see it we found that there wasn’t really anything easy about it. Our path went straight up. There were stairs in some portions but most of it was just a steep slope. We were holding on the the hand rail literally pulling ourselves up. We went up a little way until our fear of heights got the best of us but we got some good pics and were satisfied with our climb. We went back down and found a starbucks nearby, had a latte and waited for the rest of the group. Seeing the Great Wall in person was one of the coolest things I have ever done with this team. It is impossible to describe but the wall just goes on and on basically up and down mountains though the country. I can’t imagine how they were able to build it.

This morning we got out onto the field for a little bit and kicked the ball around. This afternoon we are packing up and moving to Qinhuangdao, the location of our first two games. It is just a short two hour train ride from Beijing. Hopefully our accommodations will be as nice as our set up here. This has been awesome.

We made it to Beijing! It has been a crazy few days of last minute preparation and the excitement is really building. We all gathered in San Francisco for team processing on Wednesday which is where we got all of our team USA gear. We got all sorts of outfits. Stuff for the opening ceremonies, closing ceremonies, podium gear, travel gear and much more. It was so much fun to go through the room pick everything up. Nike and Polo Ralph Lauren have some very classic and classy USA gear for us to sport. It was such a thrill to go through team processing because I began to comprehend how big this. That it is more than me or the Women’s Soccer Team but we are all part of Team USA and we are competing for our country. It’s all starting to sink in.

We spent the rest of the afternoon finishing up our packing and making one last Target trip. We got up early yesterday morning and took off for the airport. We checked-in for the flight in no time and were escorted through the airport where we boarded the plane and got comfy for the 12 hour flight.

I passed time on the flight by reading, listening to music and starting a new hobby, knitting. Heather O’Reilly and I decided that we wanted to bring along something creative to do while we were in China but couldn’t find anything in our final hours of scrambling around before the flight. However, in the airport we came across a knitting kit and had to go for it. I made some good progress on the plane ride over although I have to give a lot of credit to the woman sitting next to me. I got out the yarn once we took off and had it in a huge knot before I knew what happened. The lady next to me chuckled at me and took the yarn, demonstrating how get started. The language barrier didn’t slow us down at all. She certainly had some expertise in knitting and showed me the proper way to get the yarn ready, position your hands and how to knit. It is a slow process but I am definitely making some headway. I hope to have a cozy quilt to take home with me in a few weeks. (Just kidding…I think I should start with a nice, small scarf).

We are staying in local University for the first few days in Beijing because we actually arrived before the Olympic Village has opened. Everything has been set up so nice here for us. We are sharing the facility with the Boxing team which is pretty neat. We have our own chefs who the USOC has provided and the food has been awesome.

We get to do a little bit of sight seeing tomorrow at the Forbidden City and we get to go to the Great Wall the following day. It will be pretty fun to be a tourist for a few days before getting down to business. Check back later to see how all of our adventures went.