Sophie Reiser Looks to Make Her Mark in Women's Professional Soccer League
1/7/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
NEW YORK -- Senior women's soccer standout Sophie Reiser has been quite busy since the final game of her Columbia career on Nov. 7, 2009. The three-time All-Ivy League first team selection and 2008 Ivy League Player of the Year has participated in numerous tryouts for the Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) League, including the Chicago Red Stars Combine on December 10-11.
The WPS Draft will take place in Philadelphia, Pa., on Friday, January 15, in conjuction with the National Soccer Coaches Association of America. The WPS website has been running a series of pre-draft countdown stories, with lists of the top players eligible for the draft as rated by numerous women's soccer experts. Reiser is listed as the fourth-best midfielder available in the draft by ESPN.com women's soccer beat writer Graham Hays.
Recently, Reiser sat down Nicole Hack of Chicago Red Stars Confidential, a blog dedicated to the WPS team based in the Windy City, and spoke about her experiences at the Combine:
How did you hear about the Red Stars combine?
I heard about the Red Stars combine from Coach Hayes.
I expressed a great deal of interest in playing for the Red Stars throughout
this past season, so Coach Hayes thought it would be a good idea for me to come
out to Chicago and see if I have what it takes.
What made you want to come to Chicago to try out and/or
participate in the combine?
I wanted to come try out for Chicago because I had heard
great things about the coaching staff, and Coach Hayes in particular. I haven't
spent much time in Chicago, but living in Seattle and New York, I think it
would be a great fit for me. I think the team has a great spirit and a ton of
potential and I would love to be a part of that.
For those of us not familiar with a combine - would you be
able to give us a general description of what exactly a combine is?
This combine was pretty straightforward. There were six
teams of about 10 players each and about 10 goalkeepers. The first day
consisted of teams playing against each other and a bit of skill work with the
ball. The second day we warmed up with the Red Stars' strength and conditioning
coach, Coach Scott, and then got into some testing. They tested us on sprints,
our vertical jump, and the 300-yd shuttle. In the afternoon we broke into the
same teams and got to play again. The games were usually around 25 minutes.
There were about 10-15 coaches from around the area (various colleges and clubs) managing the teams, taking notes, and generally scouting the play. The players were a combination of college graduates and current college seniors from all over the country - probably about 75 players in all.
How was this experience different from your previous
experiences in the soccer world? How was it different from college soccer?
This experience was very different from any youth or college
experience because everyone is strangers competing for a very, very select few
spots. In youth soccer, you get recruited while playing with your own teammates,
so there is a sense of familiarity and comfort. In college, you compete for
starting positions, but again, it's with your own teammates, so you're not
looking to prove that you're the best all the time - you know the coaches, you
know your abilities, and you know your role on the team. In a combine like this,
though, there are not allegiances, and everyone is out there for themselves. It
is a very short two-day period of close examination of everyone's talents, and
you have to be showing your best the entire time. It is incredibly competitive
because everyone that is there has the same goal - to make it to the next level
- and is willing to do whatever it takes to get there, and you have to be
prepared for that.
What was the most challenging part of your experience at the
Red Stars combine?
The most challenging part of the combine was getting over
making mistakes. Obviously no one is perfect - we all take a bad touch or make
a bad pass every once in a while. But when the pressure is on and you know that
coaches are watching, the most important thing to do is get over it. You can
take one bad touch, but after that you have to move on because the worst thing
you can do is dwell on it and then keep making bad decisions. Once you let it
go, you relax, enjoy it, and play better. It's hard to remember that all the
time though.
And what positives will you take away from your experience in Chicago?
The entire experience of the combine was
positive. Being put in an environment where you don't always know what to
expect, who your teammates are, and what the outcome is going to be is
generally pretty uncomfortable. But staying positive and turning that challenge
into an exciting possibility to meet new people and become a better player is
the best way to learn from an experience like this. Plus, I had a great time in
Chicago - the coaches were awesome, I met some really cool people, and learned
a lot of great tips for training that I will definitely be using in the future.
