Ron Benjamin Attends Training Session for National Women’s Soccer League

Posted On July 13, 2013 by PUSC

Alex Morgan with Ron Benjamin

“Over the club wide break, I took my family on a road trip up to Portland, Oregon, where I was able to visit a number of friends with whom I attended the University of Portland with and a number of coaching colleagues from Region 4 ODP. A few weeks ago, when setting up the trip, I was invited to watch a training session for the Portland Thorns of the newly founded National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL).  The assistant coach, John Galas, is a long-time friend and coaching colleague.

On July 4th, the Thorns were preparing for their upcoming match against the Boston Breakers. I arrived at an empty, JELD-WEN Field (home of the Thorns and the Portland Timbers of Major League Soccer), and was greeted by Coach John and the Head Coach, Cindy Parlow. Parlow is a National Champion at University of North Carolina and a former standout for the US Women’s National Team.

The players stepped onto the field promptly at 1pm after an hour of weight training. I received the training session topic of the day from Coach John and watched these amazing players go through the session. The team was working on defensive shape and making play predictable in the wide areas to create turnovers. 

After the 90-minute session, the players had ten minutes to work on their individual skills – shooting, corner kicks, long service, etc.

Christine Sinclair with Ron Benjamin

After the players were finished with their cool down routine, my family and I were able to meet all of the players and our kids raced around getting autographs. We were able to talk with all of the players, including USWNT superstars Alex Morgan and Rachel Buehler and Canadian superstar Christine Sinclair.

Ron Benjamin with Thorns Assistant Coach John Galas

The players were then released to enjoy the rest of their 4th of July and we received a tour of the facility, locker rooms and offices.

It was an amazing day for us and i wanted to share the experience with our Placer United community.”

—Ron Benjamin

For more information about the new professional women’s league, please visit their website at www.nwslsoccer.com