April 1, 2011

Catching up with Alumni!

This week we spent some time with Alyssa Mautz, a new professional for Sky Blue FC in New Jersey.  Alyssa played for the St. Louis Soccer Club and St. Louis Scott Gallagher under Dave Fine for eight years and then for Steve Pecher and Scott McDoniel for her final two years of Youth Soccer.  During her ten years of club soccer Alyssa was a part of ten state championship teams, a record that can't be matched since the format/age groups of State Cup changed several years ago.  After graduating from Fort Zumwalt West HS and prior to being drafted by Sky Blue, Alyssa was a First Team Big 12 Selection for Texas A&M.  Alyssa recently spent time in Turkey with Sky Blue, playing in the Alanya International Tournament of Champions. 

SLSG - Alyssa, how do you feel now that you're a professional soccer player?


Alyssa - It's hard, but fun.  I have a new family in the Sky Blue players and we work very hard everyday, most times twice a day.


SLSG - How is Sky Blue different than your experience at Texas A&M?


Alyssa - Well, even though we had amazing players at A&M, the speed and strength of all of the players with Sky makes every session extremely intense.  And the fact we are playing every day for our jobs puts added pressure and tension into practice.  A few weeks ago it was hard to find any space or time on the field.  But now I'm starting to adjust and I'm playing faster... better.  


SLSG - What was Turkey like?


Alyssa - It was amazing!  Turkey was beautiful!  And although we spent a lot of time training we were able to see some amazing sites!


SLSG - You played a team from Sweden and Denmark, what were they like?


Alyssa - Well, you could kind of tell we were in pre-season.  Those teams had been together for some time before we played this tournament, so they seemed more in tune with each other.  But we played well and should have won the tournament.  The teams seemed very organized, especially FC Malmo from Sweden.


SLSG - Which players on Sky Blue have impressed you the most?


Alyssa - Well, Tobin (Heath) and Heather (O'Reilly) have been with the National Team so I haven't played against them as much, but I know they are amazing.  Angie Kerr, Ally Long, and especially Lara Calamari from Sweden are awesome to play with!


SLSG - How do you feel about your performance so far?


Alyssa - I feel okay.  I am bothered by a slight strain in my hip, but I'm still training and playing in the pre-season games.  We played the University of Virginia last week and I felt like it was my best game so far, we won 2-0 and I hit the post, so I felt like I was contributing.  But I know I can get better, I just need to keep working hard!


SLSG - When does Sky Blue open their WPS season?


Alyssa - We have one more pre-season game vs Penn State on Sunday (April 3rd) and then our first real league match is April 10th, we play at home vs the Philadelphia Independence and the game is on Fox Soccer Channel.  I'm really excited!


SLSG - Okay, good luck Alyssa, stay in touch and keep us up to date on the season!


Alyssa - Thanks and I will!  And good luck to all the Gallagher teams this Spring and Summer, hope to see you all soon!!




A great Story for our Girls!


Make sure you watch the video that accompanies this article.  This young lady is a great example of trust, discipline, respect, and passion!!  The staff was particularly impressed with the fact this player spends up to 90 minutes a day outside of training with the ball!!!!


http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/27/magazine/mag-27Soccer-t.html?_r=4&pagewanted=2&ref=magazine


Next week - We will outline the ID Process for the Elite and Premier Teams in certain age groups as well as share a few more stories about players and teams in our club and from around the country!  

Have a great week and wether you are a fan or a player; play with unity, humility, respect, and passion.