North Carolina State University Athletics
The Michelle Bertocchi Diary
12/4/2000 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer
 | Former Wolfpack (1990-93) goalkeeper Michelle Bertocchi is participating in the Women's United Soccer Association's inaugural combine and draft Dec. 4-11 at Boca Raton, Fla. She is among 200 players vying for spots on eight teams in the women's professional league, which will begin play in April 2001. Bertocchi was a three-time All-ACC and two-time All-South Region selection while at NC State and holds the ACC record for career shutouts (25). |
My sister Christine has always said I should do some writing on the side - she seems to think my style of writing and train of thought would actually be enjoyed by others, who knows. So I will take this opportunity in Boca Raton to share my experiences at the Women's United Soccer Association (hereafter called WUSA) combine with you. Wish me luck with the journals and tryout.
I arrived in Boca Saturday night, one day early of my scheduled arrival date
due to a heavy snow forecast in 'Rawlee' North Carolina. (For those of you
who did not know, I moved to Raleigh on November 2 to work for Quokka Sports).
Since I was the only player to arrive Saturday night, my transportation to
the hotel was a black Lincoln Towncar (versus the bus), complete with a
driver named Irve who carried my bags and suggested I ride in the back seat. Never have I had such service, perhaps it is a sign of things to come as a
'professional' footballer.
Arriving early gave me the chance to relax, sleep in and unwind from the hectic week of work and Christmas shopping. Our scheduled activities today were player registration, profile updates with the media staff and an informational meeting with the entire WUSA league. They briefed us on the schedule, contract meeting, physicals and the draft next Sunday. Nothing too overwhelming, yet being around so many players and teammates that I have known over the years put me in a time-warp. I feel like this is one big camp and we are here just like during the summer years of high school. Regional camp anyone? The evening meal at the dining hall was a definite summer camp memory.
My team for the week is Team B, a total of 17 players, (2 goalkeepers). First game is Tuesday at 9 am, I cannot wait to get on the pitch!!! All this talk is getting me antsy and pumped to make some phat saves.
Talk to you on Monday night ...
The WUSA is covering all its bases this week by having us attend various player meetings and appointments, and I have to give them props for leaving no base uncovered. Todays agenda included everything but the little white ball....
I woke up at 7 to make myself presentable for a scheduled 8am physicals and mug shoot. We were evaluated by four different athletic training and medical staff; one to weigh and measure our height, another to take our blood pressure and pulse, a third to review the orthopedic side of past injuries, and finally a fourth doctor to review our overall medical history. I was declared fit and ready to play, although the last doctor informed me that I need to know of the possible risk of playing with only one ovary. The chances of a traumatic injury to my remaining ovary are slim, but she just wanted to make sure I knew about it. I have been fortunate that in my 21 years of competitive soccer I have not had an injury that kept me out longer than a four months.
The medical staff, just like the operations and coaching staff, have all been allocated to the various eight WUSA teams. They are very professional and made me feel very comfortable- I can not give enough credit to the organization for making this all possible, they are allowing me to live out a dream.
I spent the second half of the morning and early afternoon working on some projects for Quokka Sports...talking to some coaches and friends on Instant Messager to get advice and share news from the combine...and to get some much needed exercise. My 40-minute run turned into an additional 50-minute walk due to the wrong turn I made, what a nightmare. All Florida roads look the same to me, and being someone that takes great pride in having a sense of direction it only made me chuckle at myself.
This evening we met as a group to with the lawyer that represents the National Team and WUSA players. Accompanying him were seven members of the National Team; Sara, Shannon, Nicki, Carla, Julie , Mia and Brandi. The purpose of the meeting was for him to review the WUSA contract and answer any questions we might have. We are required to sign the contract by noon, Friday in order to be draft eligible. The contract includes salaries, which is predetermined by draft order, calendar of events (mandatory training camp, preseason, roster finalizations, length of season, post season and off season), benefits, length of contracts and many other details that I studied in my Sports Business Law class in grad school.
What stands out the most though is the manner in which the league and founding players are working together to make this a success. It is evident by the commitments of John Hendricks, the cable/entertainment companies, staff and founding players...how fortunate I am to be such a part of history.
Tomorrow morning I will take the field with a lot of enthusiasm and passion ...in my heart I will not only be playing for my love of the game, but for all the coaches, teammates, parents and staff that have been such a key part of my life and have brought me here. You know who you are- thank you.
Day 3 of the WUSA combine/draft ... let the games begin! Finally, we were allowed to step on the pitch today, beat one another up and show our skills to the various coaches and general managers. The level of play was not quite at its highest level, nerves and general unfamiliarity with our teammates showed greatly.
As for myself, I awoke at 7am, quickly dressed in my soccer gear and scooted along to breakfast with today's copy of the newspaper. Since my nerves were much better than anticipated, I managed to drink a glass of orange juice, eat a bagel with jam and half a banana. Surprisingly enough, I resisted the urge to drink coffee ALL DAY. Hydration is key, especially here in sunny, humid Florida.
We are required to be at the fields 45 minutes prior to kickoff, so I played it safe and got on the shuttle bus at 7:45. Once I got to the field with my teammates we reintroduced one another and got familiar with names and positions. Our coach for the week is Mike Neavue from Barry College in Miami. He approached the other goalkeeper and myself during warm-ups to discuss who would be starting today's game. Basically, both of us would play an entire half each game, and we would switch who starts each day. I got the rod to start today, (yahoo!)
The game was full of effort from both teams, but from a tactical standpoint
lacked rhythm and flow. The series of saves I made were as follows:
In the first 5 minutes of the game I was forced to come off my line to pick off a through ball, nothing spectacular but it gave me the chance to get involved in the game right away.
My second touch on the ball came on a 1 v. 1 save, an excellent chance for the forward but I came out and made the sliding save. The drop kick to follow made it to midfield and the chest of my front runner; perhaps I would get an assist if she scored? Not....
On a back pass from my right defender I made a mistake and by trying to control the ball with my arm versus moving my feet and collecting it with my chest. A free kick resulted from my error, they played the ball across to the backpost where it was then one touched back to the near post to a forward sitting there to head it in for the games first goal. I felt pretty low after that, but experience has taught me not to let one incident take the rest of my game down the tubes.
My team scored on a sweet bending corner kick just a few minutes later, total redemption! I felt the weight lift from my shoulders immediately... we continued to put some decent pressure on there defensive third, but nothing found the back of the net before half.
I had one last save before half time- a free kick from the top of the 18-yard box. Our wall had five defenders in it covering the left half of my goal. As I prepared for the kick, I knew they would try to shoot over the wall towards the left post, the part where I was obstructed. My reflexes did not let me down as I made the diving extension save to my left and quickly grabbed the rebound from my own deflection. As I made the first save, a forward was running in at warp speed to put in the rebound. The moment she went to strike the ball was when I grabbed the rebound, so unfortunately she kicked my hand versus the ball. Ouch!
Before the game tomorrow the league will be testing us in the three 40 yard sprints. The games will be 8 versus 8, using half the field going sideline to sideline. We have yet to know if the games will be 30 or 40-minute halves and if the entire team will be playing on at the same time. We will find out when we get there...
The slate today included testing in the 40-yard dash and 8 v 8 games. The WUSA coaches wanted to see us play in an environment that emphasized the attack and encouraged shooting, a defenders nightmare...
I woke up less anxious but more focused than yesterday- a sense of urgency was building inside. After speaking with my one of my most trusted goalkeeper coaches Tuesday night, he advised me to go out and play the game I do best; controlling the box, winning crosses, communicating and distributing smartly.
The 40 yard dash was something I did not stress over, my speed is nothing I can control... everyone knows I am no Marion Jones. J So I used the hour and a half of warm-up and sprints as a chance to loosen up my legs and prepare for the game. If you are wondering what my best time was, it was 5.32... Okay, you can stop laughing now.
Mike had said that the starting goalkeeper would switch with each game, and seeing that I started yesterday I was prepared to go in the second half. But as we were warming up, he walked by us and said that the WUSA coaches wanted to see me play in the first half. I was not sure how read between those lines, but it did not really matter because I was totally pumped to play.
The game was amazing, night and day from yesterday's frantic pace and unfamiliarity. Our team came out strong and got stuck in each tackle from the whistle. As for myself, I will use the old clich and say that 'I was in the zone'. No distraction on the sideline could of taken my focus away. I picked off 3 crosses, made one reaction save on a point blank shot, distributed wisely and communicated well with my backs to thwart off any offensive chance of our opponent. That was probably the best part of my game today, the way I solved problems before they got off any good shots.
Thursday is another big day, the goalkeepers have a special training session in the morning. Dave Vanole, the goalkeeper coach for the US National Team, is running it. I assume they will have some local players come in to help run it, since the field players here have the day off.
Time for bed, I am feeling really tired this evening...
The week is starting to wear on my body after yesterday's goalkeeper session I immediately felt the soreness kick in. My legs were so tight walking to breakfast this morning, makes me admire Super Mario even more for coming back at age 35. I can tell it's going to take a long warm-up to loosen up today. Thank goodness kick-off is not until 1:30
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I have been playing this game since age 6, and have always found such satisfaction and joy in the simplicity of my position. What keeps me playing this game is catching the ball, making saves look easy, being consistent, the smell of freshly cut grass as I dive around, having a presence in goal for my teammates and coaches and coming up with the occasional big time save that makes the sidelines scream like crazy. In 24 hours I went from feeling on top of the world to having my head spin from anger and disappointment.
But as I walked off the field I was greeted with a face that took me back to my childhood and life in Northern Virginia a person who has a greater passion and love for the game than anyone I have ever known. It was John Ellis, assistant National Team coach for the US Women. I do not associate him that way though. To me, he is the person who owns the best indoor soccer center and soccer academy. The first camp I ever went to in eighth grade was his he allowed me to play soccer year round it was at his indoor center where I played with my two club teams the Vienna Express and Springfield Spirit, and my high school team James Madison. . His daughter Jill was my U-14 ODP coach. Just having his presence in front of me and hearing his comforting words made me realize that I will be fine, no matter what just happened in the session.
The soccer family is truly uniquehere I am miles from home and my immediate family, yet I can find comfort and a listening ear in so many here. The 9 N.C. State alumni here posed for a picture tonight, I am so proud to be here with them. Who would have guessed that a pro league would come to fruition during my playing lifetime?
Ola! Do you know the election recounts are broadcast live on CNN in Florida? I have spent a lot of time watching the tube this week...
Well it's Saturday, last day of games for the WUSA... my team tied yesterday 1-1, I played the second half and had a SHUTOUT!!! Two good saves and a couple of key distributions with my feet. :)
Today's game is at 3:00... I cannot wait to go out tonight and celebrate the week with an adult beverage.
Rounds 1-6 of the draft begin tomorrow, then rounds 7-15 on Monday. Honestly, I have no idea if I will be drafted, but am not too worried. Whatever is meant to be will be...
More news on Monday-
GK-1
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