National Training Camp with Spokane Sounders’ Abbie Sicilia

Wednesday, January 30, 2019

A few of the club’s standout Spokane Sounders players were recently invited to major ODP interregionals events or national training camps in Florida. In the first of a series of interviews, we catch up with 2005 Rave player Abbie Sicilia, who recently returned from the USYS U14 ODP National Training Camp in Tampa.

What was your reaction to receiving the news about the invitation?

I actually ended up taking a video of my reaction while I was on the way to PT, and I was so surprised to find out I was going to Boca Raton for the interregional ODP Tournament, but it didn’t really sink in what a big deal it was until I played in Boca and attended the national team camp in Tampa. I was telling a friend about how many girls were at the national camp and realized I was one of the top 80 players in the United States attending this camp. That was mind blowing to think about and super cool.

What did you do in advance of the camp to further prepare for it?

Kevin Moon introduced me to AJ Crooks, Marissa Bankey and Camryn Gardner. They helped me prepare for what it was going to be like since they had similar experiences. My coach Josh Patino has helped me in many ways, but he wrote me a really long email before I got there supporting me and cheering me along.

How was the camp?

The camp was a lot of fun and I wasn’t very nervous about the soccer part of it. I was more nervous about driving to the hotel after getting off the airplane in Florida with strange new people.

Were there any experiences or lessons you took from the camp that you will be using long-term to further your development at home?

The camp really stressed having a growth mindset, so that helped me frame my approach to wherever I am placed on the field.

Were there any memorable moments?

My scramble team at the national team camp won the scramble cup and beat every other team that was there. My team bonded very well together and we had a saying that was “oh yeahhhhhh” which came from one of my teammates from Chicago.

You’ve done EPD with players from the region that you didn’t know, but what was it like being with a group with all new people from around the nation?

On my scramble team there was only one other west region player and she wasn’t at the Boca event, so everyone was brand new to me. I made really good friends with two girls from the East Coast. It was a really good experience and I feel very lucky.

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