Madalyn Schiffel, starting goalkeeper for University of San Francisco
2013 graduate and Placer United Alumni, Madalyn Schiffel, the starting goalkeeper for University of San Francisco, was called up to the U.S. Women’s Youth National Team Camp.
Madalyn Schiffel is among 24 players to be called into the US U18 Women’s National Team’s first training camp of the year, February 2-9, at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California. The US U18’s will train concurrently with the US U20’s, and the two squads will scrimmage against each other on February 5th. The U18’s will also scrimmage UC Irvine on February 8th.
Reached by phone on the “hilltop” at the USF campus, Madalyn said, “I am so grateful for this opportunity I have been given and I’m very excited to train with some of the best players in the country in my age group.”
Long time Placer United Coach, Gene DuChateau, was an integral part of Madalyn’s success. “It was about seven years ago that I was at a tournament with my team,” recalled DuChateau.
“After our game, I decided to stick around to watch our younger under 11 girls play. As a former professional goalkeeper, I first recognized the tallest girl on the team was the goalkeeper. It took less than 10 minutes of watching the game to find out her name was Madalyn, also known as Maddy. This tall, thin, statued girl stood out by how many times her Under 11 teammates played the ball back to her. Every time she received the ball or kicked it a mile you would say, oh my, did you see that? She was cool, calm and confident with every touch or collection. Madalyn looked the part of a goalkeeper and had the profile to become big time. I left that game saying that l would love to have the chance to coach her someday. That hope became a reality when I took over as coach of the Under 15’s and Madalyn was our goalkeeper. She was a natural who had it all and it was my job to insure that she continued to develop. There were times when we butted heads because I expected so much from her and knew she has what it takes to compete at the highest level. Well, the battles paid off with Madalyn now attending USF on a full athletic soccer scholarship. This young lady has it all and is without a doubt the most talented female goalkeeper that I’ve ever coached during my 19 year tenure with Placer United. After Madalyn accepted the offer to attend USF, a coaching change was made and Jim Millinder was named head coach. Jim and I had played professionally together and was excited to hear that Maddy would be attending USF. In a discussion with Jim, I said that I felt Maddy had the entire package and I would love to see her get a shot in the US Camp. Well as they say, good things come to those who work hard and are passionate about what they do. We at Placer United look forward to following her path and look forward to seeing her in a USA jersey sometime in the near future. A big thank you to Jim and Maite from USF!”
“We are so proud of Madalyn and what she has accomplished thus far,” said Ron Benjamin, DOC Girls. “Madalyn is a great teammate and friend to many. Gene and I fielded many emails and phone calls in regard to Madalyn during her college recruiting process. She was heavily sought after by many collegiate programs. Former USF head coach Mark Carr and assistant Maite Zabala made a real impact with Madalyn during the process. Some say that she was the best GK recruit in the nation for the 2013 graduates. We look forward to her continued development and look forward to the possibility of Madalyn representing our country in the sport that she loves.”
