Sarah Piper (U18 Girls Development Academy, Houston Dash Youth) recently traveled to compete for the US U18 Women’s National Team in Australia playing three games (Canada U20 WNT, Australia U19 WNT ) which was part of their training camp itinerary. Please click here for the full release.
“With the addition of a few of the 99s and a 98 to the team this trip, it was fun to be able to meet new people and to be able to learn from a few older girls! It was a good taste of what college will be like so that got me very excited to compete and perform.” Sarah Piper, U18 US WNT/Houston Dash Youth.
“The Dash is extremely proud of Sarah and very happy she continues to be called up to represent the USA in training camps and International competition. Sarah will be a key player this year for our oldest age group in the new Girls Development Academy. Our Dash DA program is the only Houston based girls club in the new US Soccer league and that connection will open the door for many more Dash players to have the same great experiences as Sarah.” Nick O’Shea, Director of Coaching – Girls DA.
The club asked Sarah about what she took away from the trip and about the upcoming season in the new Girls Development Academy:
- On international trips I always learn a lot more about the game tactically than any other side. We focused a lot on our scouting reports of Canada and Australia, but also had meetings on how we were going to be able to beat their formation, style and speed of play.
- A little piece of culture was fun as well— we got to see wild kangaroos in person on a hike we went on which was probably one of my favorite parts of camp off the soccer field!
- Being able to compete with some of the best girls in the country at my age is always a pleasure — but this time being with a few older girls was cool to be able to learn from each other a little bit more.
- It is always fun to meet new people, but also to get closer with all of the girls I’ve gone to camps with since I will be playing them later on in college as well!
- I think I have such a great time at camps because we are able to make mistakes. A lot of the mistakes that we make are looked at by the coaches and by each other to see how we can learn from it and make the team better rather than just ourselves.
- This year in the DA should be a great experience for all of us to be able to learn from the pro players and at times even train with them as well! It’s also great how the focus for the DA is the training rather than the games since you should train everyday like you’re playing a game– tactically and with your speed of play.
