Christina DiMartino is a former soccer player with the Massapequa Soccer Club & Massapequa HS. She played her college soccer at UCLA and is currently a member of the US National Team and the Philadelphia Independence of Women’s Professional Soccer.

Over the coming months, Christina will be reporting in to LIJSoccer.com as she goes through her WPS season and looks ahead to the 2011 Women’s World Cup this summer. Be sure to check back regularly for updates.

Hi Everyone,

Right now we are in our second week of preseason training, getting ready for our WPS season opener on April 9^th.  We’re going through “double days” (two practices a day) at the United Sports Training Center in Downingtown, PA, just outside of Philadelphia.  In addition to regular soccer practices, we have weightlifting sessions twice a week on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  When we lift, we do a lot of exercises with dumbbells, (elastic) band work, and a lot of things that require us to support our own body weight.  So nothing is done with really heavy weights, but there are TONS OF PUSHUPS!!  The fun part is when we get to play scrimmages on Saturdays.

A typical preseason day starts at 10 am with a practice that usually runs until about 12 Noon.  Then we’ll break for lunch.  We have a little lounge area in the training center with couches and flat screen TV’s, so we get to relax in there a little bit and be with our teammates.  Then we’re usually back on the field at two o’clock for another practice that will last until about 4:30.

During the regular season we would normally have a film study session after the afternoon practice.  In the preseason we don’t do that as much, but tomorrow we’re actually having one.  This is something your teams probably don’t do yet, but you’ll see more of it as you continue to play at a higher level.  During the season, a lot of the film study focuses on our opponent and what they do offensively and defensively.  But at this time of year we’re working hard to build our team, see who plays well together, and which players have compatible styles of play.  Watching film of our practices and scrimmages can help us not only perfect our individual technique, but also show us what things we need to do better in order to play as a team.

This is my third season in the WPS, but it’s only my first preseason training camp.  I missed preseason the first two years because I was still in school at UCLA.  Most of the time, professional athletes don’t really like preseason practices, but I don’t mind it (except all the running!), and I haven’t heard anyone complaining.  All the girls here are eager to play, even those girls who are injured and can’t play right now.  That’s a good sign.

I’ll leave you with one thing you probably didn’t know.  Throughout the season, the players on the team all stay with host families here in the Philadelphia area.  Two of the girls have an apartment that they rent, but most everyone else is staying with these families in their homes.  Many of the families have been doing this for a few years now and have built good relationships with the girls on the team.  It’s just another little adjustment that we have to make in order to play at the highest level.

TINE’S TALES

I played in the Long Island Junior Soccer League with the Massapequa Soccer Club until my sophomore year in high school, so I have a lot of great memories of growing up while playing soccer.  When I first started playing U10 travel soccer our homes games were at Walker Park in Massapequa.  The field was near the Massapequa Preserve, and there was a bike path that ran by the field.  I remember riding my bike to games with my dad.  We did it for years, and it’s still a great memory that I carry with me today.

That’s it for now.  I’ll talk to you guys in a couple weeks!

DREAM BIG!