After presenting Troy, OH USA pins, Troy Mayor Mike Beamish offers praise to parents of the Troy High School varsity girls soccer team Thursday morning in front of Meijer. The team boarded a bus for Chicago, where they will catch a flight to London, England. Staff Photo/ANTHONY WEBER
London calling Trojans depart for jolly ol’ England
At 11 p.m. Wednesday night, while the rest of his team was - likely - sleeping, Troy girls soccer coach Ryan Baker still hadn't even started packing.
"I am the world's worst procrastinator," Baker said. "I'm not getting any sleep tonight."
He likely wouldn't have anyway - anticipation for a major trip tends to do that to people.
Early Thursday morning, Baker and the Trojans boarded a bus headed for Chicago - and were even seen off by Troy Mayor Mike Beamish. There the Trojans will pick up a flight across the ocean to play in a preseason tournament in London, England.
"All of the girls are really excited," Baker said. "This is an opportunity that might not ever happen again. It's going to be a neat experience."
Maybe the team wasn't sleeping after all. It's not every day an American high school soccer team gets to travel to a country where soccer is king.
"In the states, there's so many different things to choose from. Over there it's soccer and then everything else," Baker said. "Everything else is second. It's a major part of their culture. Here, once a woman player is done with college, they're done. Over there, they have a lot of professional women's teams forming."
It's not a trip the Trojans have taken lightly, either. They plan to represent Troy in the tournament the best way they know how - playing well.
"We've been preparing since Nov. 1 of last year," Baker said. "We started conditioning and weight training, and all the girls have played winter ball and spring soccer. We front-loaded our regular season schedule as much as we could, and we want to be ready."
Troy opens the season with preseason No.1 Wayne.
"By the time we get to that point, I don't think any other team in the Dayton area will have played as many preseason games as we have," Baker said.
Troy also has the luxury of having a roster packed with returners from last season. Going on the trip are seniors Mandi Clemons, Kylie Sawka, Michelle Pappas, A.J. Cochran, Abbey Karns, Lauren Corio, Erin Jarvis, Jessica Drees and Sarah Sano; juniors Ashley Myers, Jenna Weber, Rachel Bornhorst and Jordan Scriven; and sophomores Taylor Markowitz, Erin Yenney and Holly Pierce.
One player won't be making the trip, though. Last year's second-leading scorer, Aleseya Evans, will miss the trip - and the season - with an injury.
"She blew out her ACL in club ball back in April," Baker said of Evans. "That's going to be a big missing piece for us. She was No. 2 in scoring last year. We will miss her."
Once the Trojans land in England, they'll need to be ready for some fun mixed with a bit of hard work.
"Of course we want the trip to be fun, but ultimately we want to be prepared for the season," Baker said.
Be sure to check future issues of the Troy Daily News for updates on the Trojans' progress in the London tournament.
