By Vaishnavi Sriadibhatla, Co-Sports Editor
On June 11 at the Stadion am Schönsbusch in Aschaffenburg, Germany, the U.S. Under-16 Women’s Youth National Team (USYNT) lined up to play its second international friendly game against Germany.
Junior Kate Kemmerley was one of 20 girls nationwide who the team invited to attend the training camp in Germany. Players trained under the direction of head coach Patricia Toledo from June 3 to June 13. The team’s training culminated in two international friendly matches against the German team on June 8 and June 11. The international friendly matches were meant to help the team prepare for upcoming tournaments. Kemmerley describes the experience as very serious and methodical.
“It was just very intense. Everyone on the national team is so talented, so you are only surrounded by great players. Everything is taken very seriously, and everything has a plan,” Kemmerley said.
Talent scouts recruited Kemmerley for the USYNT at the regional, state and national levels before sending her an offer. She attracted the attention of scouts after she played a major part in helping her club team, Penn Fusion Soccer Academy, win the U16 Elite Clubs National League Girls National Championship this past summer.
On May 15, the USYNT informed Kemmerley that she had been invited to train at the highly selective camp in Germany. When she first saw the email, Kemmerley was surprised. Growing up, she had never dreamt of playing for the U.S. because she thought it was too unrealistic.
“I was in school, and I just got the email. I was like ‘this is a scam; this cannot be real.’ I call my club coach and he’s like ‘oh yeah, by the way congrats.’ And I (was) like ‘are you kidding? Is this real?’ I was shocked and immediately nervous,” Kemmerley said.
To prepare, Kemmerley continued to train with her club team three days each week. Leading up to the camp, she did some additional conditioning with her sister, senior Keira Kemmerley, who has played soccer alongside Kate Kemmerley for all their lives. Keira Kemmerley is proud of how far Kate Kemmerley has come and has drawn inspiration from her work ethic.
“I was just so happy for her because I knew she worked so hard. It’s just awesome because I don’t know a ton of girls on my club team that have had an experience like that. So for her, it’s just amazing,” Keira Kemmerley said.
In the future, Kate Kemmerley plans to keep working hard and looks forward to attending more USYNT events and camps. She describes attending the camp as an eye-opening experience, where she played with some of the best talents in the country and understood how it feels to play at the next level.
“It helped me want to improve and chase something. That specific event has made me like ‘I want to be the best’,” Kate Kemmerley said. “Seeing those other girls and seeing what it (the work) took them makes me want to be like, ‘Okay, I want that too.’”
Vaishnavi Sriadibhatla can be reached at [email protected].
