Record Numbers Attend Freedom Camp
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A record 70+ attended the 2013 USA Freedom Training camp in the San Francisco East Bay over the weekend of June 1-2. Players came from all over the US including New York, Boston, Minnesota, Baltimore, Washington DC, Columbus, Arizona, Denver, Los Angeles and Sacramento. The Golden Gate Roos and San Francisco Iron Maidens were the proud hosts for the weekend offering up support to the players on and off the field.
The weekend began with a light training session and casual dinner on Friday with the majority of participants. A few late comers filled out the numbers and the full contingent was ready to go early Saturday morning. The coaching staff took the women through a number of drills and exercises during a morning training session, working with the backs, midfielders and forwards in separate sessions.
The lunch break was an opportunity for players to get out of the heat of the day, enjoy some gourmet sandwiches put together by a couple of the Roos players, and to breakout once more to discuss different roles players would take on the field.
After lunch the group headed to the field where a match between the Golden Gate Roos and Sacramento Suns was well underway. The women were split up into a number of teams and some round robin matches quickly got underway. Players, new and old, impressed the coaching staff with many players still in their first season. Four matches were held in total by the ladies under the warm California sun with players having multiple opportunities to put their best boot forward in front of the coaches.
“To have 70 players to the camp is a feat in itself but to feel the enthusiasm, the passion that you all brought with you was an amazing thing indeed” exclaimed Coach Barnes.
The day was capped off with an big dinner and awards at the local Back Forty restaurant. Captains and leaders in the group were recognized as well as top performers and memorable moments from the weekend.
The coaching staff put the ladies through their last bit of training Sunday morning before the whole team piled onto a bus for an afternoon at the horse races.
The coaching staff were ecstatic with the success of the weekend “Put simply, you [ladies] were all a credit to yourselves, your team and to the USAFL. US footy and I could not be more proud of the efforts that you all put in. My sincerest thanks for making the camp what it was. An unqualified success,” said Coach Barnes.
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