Tactical soccer henderson pro#

Playing pro in Sweden several years later closed that loop for me of getting to play abroad. But then the timing worked out really well because the WPS launched my senior year, just after I had graduated, so I was able to do a semester abroad in Spain and then come right back for the draft. There was a player who was a senior when I was a freshman who played in Sweden and I thought that was really cool so I always thought that I would take my game abroad if I was going to play after college.

Tactical soccer henderson professional#

When I was in college I always thought that it would be so cool to play in another country because there were professional or semi professional leagues in other countries at the time, but nothing in the US. There wasn’t a serious professional league when I was growing up. NorCal: When did you know that you had the chance to make it at the professional level in soccer? There were just more exciting things going on in soccer for me. I still loved both sports, but I had better friends in soccer and had started getting looks from the youth national teams and had been invited to travel with soccer. I had to choose soccer or basketball because they were the same season so I had to choose which one I liked more. Henderson: I think one of the turning points was in high school. NorCal: When did you know that you wanted to pursue soccer over the other sports? I think when you can play other sports, you figure out what you truly love and it helps you fall more deeply in love with your particular sport once you choose it. I’m an advocate for playing different sports, seeing all the different things that you’re interested in. Playing all those sports certainly must have helped my overall athleticism. Henderson: Of course it’s easy for me to say that because that was my experience. NorCal: Do you think playing all these different sports helped you with your soccer? I think during that time it was a lot more common to play tons of sports and not specialize. I was on the swim team, just all sorts of different sports. I played baseball, basketball, and flag football. I didn’t get into soccer until I was 12 or 13.

Henderson: I think one of the biggest differences was specializing early.

NorCal: What was the youth soccer scene like for you growing up in Northern California as compared to now? The Orinda native and Lamorinda SC alum is a member of NorCal Premier Soccer’s Women’s Committee and holds a USSF A License. Since retiring from the game, Henderson has worked in coaching at San Jose State and San Francisco State.

Youth international goalkeeper, Henderson played four years at UCLA before embarking on a professional career that took her to the LA Sol, Philadelphia Independence, and Atlanta Beat of the WPS and KIF Orebro in Sweden. For this edition we spoke with Peninsula SC Director of Coaching Val Henderson. Note: NorCal Premier Soccer regularly sits down with an influential figure in the youth soccer landscape to pick their brain about a variety of different topics that are relevant in the current soccer environment in the United States.