A Season Of Rebirth

We Need To PAR-TAY!

Sights and Sounds from US National Team camp in Kansas City:

* As players arrived at the Residence Inn Country Club Plaza, they were given their roommate assignments by assistant coach Tony Gustavsson. Despite head coach Jill Ellis being clueless about what was happening with a fair portion of her squad, her #2 had been paying attention and designed the pairings so conflict might be kept at a minimum.

>>>>Becky Sauerbrunn/Alyssa Naeher; Ashlyn Harris/Megan Rapinoe; Tobin Heath/Lindsey Horan; Mallory Pugh/Emily Sonnett; Alex Morgan/Kelley O'Hara; Abby Dahlkemper/Andi Sullivan; Julie Johnston/Sofia Huerta; Morgan Brian/Crystal Dunn; Sam Mewis/Rose Lavelle; Christen Press/Casey Short.<<<<

* Monday's agenda of weight-training/testing and the beep test allowed for no up-close confrontations, which extended into dinner and a second straight night of roommate and mini-clique hanging-out.

* Tuesday started with sectionals, with Becky leading the defenders, which included Julie and Andi, and Tobin the forwards and attacking midfielders. While there was tension in both groups, the leaders were able to keep the sessions on-task and the frostiness to a manageable level. The afternoon, however, saw things boil over a bit in some of the drill work Jill had the players run through. Prior to dinner, Becky, Alyssa, Tobin, and Megan met to discuss what they had seen and what they might consider doing tomorrow if things got out of hand. They also bemoaned their coach's continued head-in-the-sand approach to managing the visible conflict in her midst and wondered if perhaps the Aussies could help them out, leading Becky to ask Kelley if she could drop Sam Kerr, captain of the Matildas and her former Sky Blue FC teammate, a note asking for a small delegation to stop by the hotel that evening for a sit-down. At 8:00, Sam, Lydia Williams, Tameka Butt, and Clare Polkinghorne arrived at Becky and Alyssa's room, where they were met by the two of them, Megan, Tobin, and Kelley. Sam and Clare were quite aware of the problems in the American camp as they had seen some of the violent extracurriculars in their recent NWSL match against the Red Stars, which allowed the two of them and Alyssa to start off the conversation, with Becky and the others chiming in where appropriate. The group came to the decision that a combined night out for the two teams might be a means of breaking down the antagonism some of the players had for one another ahead of a potential intervention by the older Americans the next morning.

***

Wednesday morning's training session was sullied by a handful of verbal skirmishes and a lot of non-verbal antagonism. Jill ended the session a half-hour early and asked Becky to stay on the field with her so they could talk about what was going on with the team.

Jill: What's the deal with the girls this week? Seems like they'd rather be anywhere but in camp.

Becky: Some of them probably would be, especially when confronted by others who have hurt them or betrayed them in numerous ways. Considering that it's been six months since the start of the problems, I am honestly surprised you've been ignoring them.

Becky went on to lay out for Jill the issues concerning: Morgan and a handful of the players; Sam, Abby, and Lindsey; Kelley, Julie, and Christen; and Emily and Sofia. She also informed her about the meeting she and others had with members of the Australian National Team and their plan for this evening.

Becky: Hopefully tonight will loosen things up enough for a true intervention to take place and for us as a team to unify again, even if it IS on a professional and not personal level.

Jill: Can I help, and if so how?

Becky: What we need is to have tomorrow morning clear of training. If Alyssa, Pinoe, and I can get the emotional foundation of the team restored, the use of the 2-3 hours will be more profitable for us heading into Saturday and the remainder of the pre-Qualifying camps than anything we might do on the field during that time. What is your plan for this afternoon?