Is La Jolla home to a future Olympian?
La Jolla teen Jamie Schnieders, an eighth-grade student at All Hallows Academy, recently qualified for the U.S. Youth Soccer Olympic Development Program (ODP). Of 4,000 candidates, 14-year-old Schnieders is one of only 24 girls who will train for the U.S. Women’s National Team, trying out for the 2012 Olympics in London.
In most states, players are selected on the basis of open tryouts conducted by state association coaches who are recognized for their ability to identify and train players with superior skills. Players are evaluated on four components: technique, tactics, fitness and athletic ability and attitude.
At the tryout, Schnieders survived a grueling weekend of possession drills and scrimmaging against 38 other girls, vying for the last 24 spots. One of those spots had Jamie Schnieders’ name on it.
Her mom Cathy says Jamie has always wanted to compete in the Olympics and at the professional level. Now, here is her chance.
Even though the Olympic team will look to these girls first before any other development league, Schnieders will be required to re-audition every six months with a new group of girls. Tryouts are held throughout the country twice per year.
“It’s a very competitive ongoing process,” Cathy said. “Once you are on the team, it doesn’t mean you will stay on the team.”
Schnieders practices an average of six to eight hours per week with Surf Soccer Club, the team she’s played with for the last five years under Coach Mario Mrokovic. To complement her training, she also plays Futsal, another type of soccer that is played indoors. If Schnieders’ teams “” Futsal, Club and ODP “” overlap, she can spend more than 10 hours a week training.
“The indoor soccer team helps her develop and hone her ball-control skills,” her mom said, adding that the fast pace enables her to practice making quick decisions.
Additionally, Schnieders plays volleyball, keeping active year-round.
“Playing soccer has taught me to keep trying no matter how hard things get,” Jamie said. “If your team is down 1-0 and there are five minutes left, just keep trying because it only takes a few seconds to score a goal. Or, say you just got beaten by the player you are marking ” turn around and run as fast as you can to get the ball back. No matter how big the problem is, you can never just give up.”
The U.S. Youth Soccer Olympic Development Program was formed in 1977 to identify a pool of players in each age group from which a national team will be selected for international competition as well as to provide high-level training to benefit and enhance the development of players at all levels.
Schnieders, who has been playing since she was 5 years old, admires Olympian Brandi Chastain, because she is “one of the best defenders ever on the Women’s Olympic team,” she said. “I am also a defender and I love watching her play. In 1999, she scored a penalty kick against China to win the championship and she was so overcome with joy that she threw her jersey off and fell to her knees. Whenever I need inspiration, I look at the photo of her and it pumps me up every time.”
Inspiration she may need as the hard work is only about to begin. Schnieders recently played in Brazil with the Pro Select Elite Soccer Team, and this month she’ll be competing in the Futsal Nationals at the Anaheim Convention Center. It would be hard to slow this teen down.
“The best thing about soccer is the people you meet and the chemistry you feel with every one of your teammates on and off the field,” Jamie said.