Feb. 7, 2017

Wearing that Team USA crest is pretty awesome.

Savannah McCaskill

I was extremely honored when I found out I would be training in the U.S. camp. It was absolutely amazing. Going into the U-23s, we had no idea there would be hold-overs to get pulled up.

Playing for Team USA has always been a dream of mine. That’s the end-goal for any soccer player. It’s the highest level you can play. To be in a camp with them, it gave me a little taste of that dream. It made me want to work even harder to get back and have a chance to make the roster for upcoming World Cups.

With well known names like Carli Lloyd, Alex Morgan, Morgan Brian and all of them, I had to take myself out of the mindset of who they were. I had to treat it as if they were just other players, and that I was supposed to be there, instead of thinking too much about who I was playing with or where I was playing.

I was most excited to meet Carli Lloyd because she is one of the best players in the world right now. She plays a similar style of play that I do, and I think we have similar roles on the field. Just to be able to play with her and against her on the field, and see what she is all about on and off the field, it was a really cool experience to see what it takes to become that kind of player.

The whole team was very nice and welcoming. When it came to training, everyone was there to compete and to try to earn a spot. For a lot of these girls, this is their job. For the rest of us, we want it to be our job. So the competitive atmosphere was just on a whole different level.

The biggest challenge for me during the full team training was getting used to the speed of play. The training speed was faster, and the girls were stronger and faster.

When I got home, I took it all in. Wearing that Team USA crest is pretty awesome. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to keep any Team USA swag. But that makes me want to get back there to be able to wear that again.

The experience will help me moving forward because it showed me things I need to improve upon so that I can have a chance to play at that level.

I can definitely say that playing at South Carolina prepared me to play at that level. Shelley and Jamie (Smith) are awesome. They’re more than willing to help me get better.

I’m excited for my senior year. I want to carry on the success that we’ve had this past season, and not let it drop off. I just want to help keep the team striving for excellence and help us break some more records.