Harris Nadelman, from the DUSC U14 White team, has been selected to join the US Soccer Training Camp in Lincoln Park, NJ on January 26th. Kevin Herras ('97-'98), Jean Paul Marin ('99), Kofi Hope-Gund ('99) and Jack Valderabanno ('00) have also been invited to the camp. Harris shares his experience below.

This past Saturday, I attended a US National Soccer training center. There were only around 20 of us for the 1999 group, including 4 keepers. The coaches watched us very closely and filmed us while we did a combination of drills and scrimmages. They were very vocal with us, constantly encouraging us or stopping play and telling us things we were doing wrong, kind of like a very high intensity practice. The players there were mostly from Academy teams with the exception of JP, my teammate at DUSC, so it was a little intimidating.

Even though I was a little nervous, DUSC has prepared me for this experience. I only have been at DUSC for a year and my game has improved because of the goalkeeper program, and I owe most of my confidence to it. My team practices have also been really helpful. For example, the style that my coach (Alan Miles) has been teaching my team to play is almost the exactly the style of play the US coaches wanted us to play at the training center. The US coaches wanted us to build up the attack, starting from the goalkeeper and defenders, and ending with a creative finish.

DUSC also prepared me by having our team compete the EDP league as well as in top tier tournaments. My DUSC teammates are all very skilled so while the players at the session were amazing, I am used to a high level of play. The coaches have also prepared me for the training center by sending me to TIP, which is run by EDP. The TIP training centers prepared me by showing me what to expect form the US Soccer training camp.

I am grateful and glad that I had the chance to show myself to the US soccer program. By the end of the session I was satisfied with my performance (although having other great keepers  around me reminded me that there is always room for improvement). I think that I will be able to bring back the high level of intensity that the US coaches demanded and use the confidence that I gained from this experience to help my team at DUSC in the spring.