Am I Ready?

By Brooke O'Hanley

As I head to Sacramento, Calif. for this weekend’s WPSL Combine, I am excited that WPS is in the process of being launched and that players will be evaluated and selected for the different teams. It is difficult to adequately express how appreciative I am for the efforts of WPS Commissioner Tonya Antonucci and her colleagues, team managements, and sponsors that have made this opportunity possible. For me, I have been waiting for this day for five years since the collapse of WUSA.

My name is Brooke O’Hanley. I played at the University of Portland under legendary Coach Clive Charles. Despite not being drafted after college for a WUSA team in 2002, I had the opportunity of a lifetime because of Marcia McDermott (former coach of the WUSA Carolina Courage and current General Manager for the Chicago Red Stars). Because of Coach McDermott’s willingness to give me an objective assessment at a local tryout, I was first able to make the team and eventually a starting spot on the Carolina Courage. I had the opportunity to play for two years at the professional level with the best players not only in the United States but also in the world.

The collapse of WUSA was personally devastating since I love the game so much and enjoyed playing it at the highest level; however, there were immediate rumors that a new league would start within the next year. So I just assumed that I would use the year to work on my game so that when a new league was launched, I would be an improved player and ready to be an impact player. I had no idea that it would take me five years of persistent work before I had the chance again to try and play as a professional soccer player.

And you ask, “What did she do during this time to improve her game?” To give you just an idea, my training and dedication included the following over the past several years:

• Initially selected a job as an environmental consultant with URS Corporation in Santa Barbara, California, that allowed me the flexibility to train in the mornings and afternoons.
• Miraculously convinced the UC Santa Barbara Men’s Soccer Team Coaches, Tim Vom Steeg and Leo Chappel, to allow me to train with their team. I trained with the team getting up in the mornings for 6:00 AM runs and playing with them in the afternoons. This experience helped me to improve my speed of play and become more physical.
• Trained with two Men’s Mexican teams in Santa Barbara – Durango and Cruz Azul. This experience helped me to improve the creative aspects of my game.
• Trained with the Santa Barbara Men’s Community College Team. This experience helped me to work on my individual foot skills.
• Played the last four summers for Brian Boswell on the WPSL Ajax America team (2008 WPSL Champions!) in Los Angeles – traveling 4+ hours roundtrip for home games. This experience helped me to remember that soccer is a game to be enjoyed and loved.
• Trained with a private trainer, Dr. Marcus Elliot, in an effort to improve my strength, speed, and agility. Who knew that I could increase my vertical jump by several inches, shave-off seconds in my sprints, and lift more than my body weight?
• Moved in 2007 to New York to attend law school. Despite the academic load, I played for the New York Athletic Club under Coach Etsu Taniguchi and trained with the Columbia Women’s Soccer team under Coach Kevin McCarthy. These experiences helped me to understand the importance of being attack-oriented and the importance of winning.

So, am I ready? I hope so since I have tried my best to improve my game over these past several years training 6-7 days per week for this very opportunity. I owe it to my trainer, coaches, and teammates that have invested so much of their time and energy into helping me improve to go to this tryout and try and make a statement - that I deserve another chance to play at the professional level. I am well aware that the selection process is going to be very competitive since there are so few spots available. I will definitively think about some of the things that Coach Clive Charles used to say when he wanted someone to shine at practice, “I want a Winner” and before games, “You must earn the right to play.”

As I prepare to leave tomorrow from the University of Maryland School of Law (where I transferred three days ago) for the WPSL Combine in Sacramento, Calif., I’m getting a little nervous. This is not going to be like the essay exams I have taken at law school but a series of different tests. It will be a test of athletic ability – agility, speed, and strength. It will be a test of skills – defending, attacking, shooting, passing, dribbling, and heading. It will be a test of mental strength – ability to recover from mistakes and not folding under pressure. So my thoughts about attending the Combine include both a high level of excitement and happiness as well as being extremely focused on being a winner and earning the right to play in WPS.