Youth soccer players get visit from FC Gold Pride
MORGAN HILL — Although they grew up far from the South Valley, FC Gold Pride’s Rachel Buehler and Marisa Abegg felt a hint of nostalgia Friday at the Morgan Hill Outdoor Sports Center.
Joined by teammates Leigh Ann Robinson and Tina DiMartino, the two defenders hosted a skills camp for four Ochard Valley Youth Soccer League girls teams, an experience that conjured fond memories for the professional players.
“This is where it all started for us: at soccer camps,” said Buehler, a Del Mar native who played for the U.S. National Team that won a gold medal a year ago in the Beijing Olympics. “It’s a lot of fun working with the kids. We were just like them; it feels like not that long ago.
“It’s cool to go back and remember what soccer is all about. It’s about having fun and being out here with a team.”
On top of working on fundamentals with their young campers, the FC Gold Pride players signed autographs, handed out posters and held a tutorial.
“They told us about hard work, working on your own everyday instead of just with your team. We got a little star-struck having them here,” Kate Van Keulen, 13, said.
“When we actually saw them and saw them play it was like, whoa. They’re professionals,” 14-year-old Sarah Zajac added. “They taught us about balancing academics with sports.”
Abegg learned all about that while playing club ball in Lake Oswego, Ore., and later for Stanford.
“Any way we can give back is beneficial to them,” Abegg said. “We feel good about doing this because other people helped us get here, too.”
Playing at a pro level was never really a goal for Buehler and Abegg as youths. The Women’s United Soccer Association was created in 2000 but folded while they were in high school.
The new Women’s Professional Soccer league was founded at an ideal time; Abegg was wrapping up her junior year at Stanford, and Buehler was playing for the U.S.
“I always wanted to keep playing soccer as long as I could,” said Buehler, who scored the game-tying goal in Sunday’s season-ending 1-1 draw with Saint Louis Athletica. “Playing in the Olympics was an incredible experience. It was the coolest thing I’ve ever done.
“I was planning to go to medical school after college, and then, all of a sudden, my career kind of took off.”
Buehler and Abegg discussed the hectic lifestyle of a professional soccer player. Buehler almost forgot she was in Piscataway, N.J., last Wednesday for a game against Sky Blue FC.
Robinson and DiMartino made the trip to Morgan Hill after flying in earlier Friday.
“You never get days off, but it’s a great lifestyle, especially because we love the work,” Buehler said.
Abegg said, “It’s not like work for us. It’s fun.”
Lisa Schmidt, an OVYSL coach who helped organize Thursday’s camp, hopes the team will make more appearances in the future.
“It can reach out to more younger girls and get them excited,” she said. “The boys have always had something to strive for. Girls have never really had that before with professional soccer. … We’re trying to support them and vice versa.”
The youth league’s backing has not gone unnoticed.
“This camp is our way of giving back,” FC Gold Pride account executive Victor Juarez said.
