May 14, 2012
Sun Devil junior forward Devin Marshall was one of 24 players called to participate in the U.S. Under-23 Women's National Team training camp, taking place May 13-20 at The Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif. Marshall will be providing updates during her time in training camp.
May 13
Today was my first day at the Home Depot Center for the U23 National Team Camp. I was a little nervous going in because I was out almost all of our spring season but all of the girls are really nice and the coach [Randy Waldrum] reassured me that I would be fine and there are a lot of new faces this week so I wasn't the only newbie. We had our first practice tonight to get our legs moving and ready for the long week ahead of us. I haven't practiced in a while but my confidence got boosted toward the end of practice when I finished the day with a diving header in our 7 v 7 drill. We have two trainings tomorrow and then our first game Tuesday against the U20 National Team.
May 15
Today's practice schedule was a lot lighter. This morning we just worked on possession and set pieces and then played the U20 National Team. It was a high scoring game that went back and forth and we ended up tying, 4-4. We ended up losing by one shot in penalty kicks. it was a fun game because I was able to play against some of my old teammates from when I was on the national team back in the day. After the game for those of us on both teams who either played less then 60 minutes or didn't play at all did a round robin 5 v 5 tournament. During the tournament I scored six goals and my team ended up winning. We will play the U20s again on Thursday and have two practices tomorrow.
May 16
This morning our coach decided that instead of heading down to the fields, we would just do some stretching and loosen our legs out in the pool. The New Zealand girls were doing a pool workout as well. It was a lot of fun listening to them talk especially with their accents. Then we went back to the hotel and just hung out until our next practice in the afternoon. In preperation of our game tomorrow we watched some film. After film some of the girls and I went hung out in the training room and ate some ice cream while watching the Lakers and Thunder playoff game. On Thursday we will have a light practice before we play the U20s one last time!
May 17
Today we had another light practice where we worked on some set pieces and then got to play soccer tennis. We played the U20s again and unfortunately this time we lost 3-1. At the end of the game we went into penalty kicks where we ended up winning. After the penalty kicks, some of us played in a small-sided round robin tournament and my team won again! Then everyone went up into the press box of the home depot and had dinner with the U20s. Since we've been having chicken and pasta every night it was a nice change! I'm ending my night by watching Greys Anatomy with some of my teammates and I will get the morning off from practice because we will be having individual meetings.
Final Update
We finished our last day of camp with a scrimmage within our team but they made it feel like a game situation with refs there. We played two 35 minute halves with no substitutes. My team ended up losing 2-1 but i finished on a good note and scored! We got the rest of the day off and at night we got to go to the Chivas vs. Galaxy game, which was a lot of fun! I’m off to bed as I have to be up at 4:30 a.m. to catch my flight. It's been a good week here at the Home Depot Center and I’ve made a lot of new friends!