US Olympian Heather O'Reilly in Garden City

Friday evening, June 21st, the Garden City Centennials held a clinic given by US National team player Heather O’Reilly for the Under 10 – 12 girls travel teams. O’Reilly was in town as the US team had played a game the night before in New Jersey, defeating Korea 5-0 in a friendly match.

O'Reilly has been a mainstay of the US team since scoring her first international goal in 2002, earning 186 'caps' that include three Olympic gold medals and two World Cup championships. She also owns the longest consecutive games played streak for the US Women’s team with 74 games played in a row from Aug. 12, 2007 to Jan. 21, 2011.

There were about seventy five of the towns best young soccer players at the clinic to experience what it is like to play with one of the best players in the world. Heather warmed up with the girls and then took them through several drills focused on the players touch and ball control. 

Centennial Coach Tom Poz, who was instrumental in arranging the sessions, was all smiles as the teams moved through the drills, saying 'you could really see the interest the girls showed and the enjoyment they experienced being in the company of a player like Heather.'  

The two ninety minute clinics were focused on giving the young players an idea of what it’s like to perform side by side with a professional athlete in a sport they love. From the time Heather arrived to the minute she left, the girls were in awe, not only of her fantastic soccer abilities but of her demeanor. O’Reilly demonstrated to the girls that you have to have passion, commitment and dedication to succeed in all you do. She told them that coaches will eventually notice a great attitude, and they respect that.

As O’Reilly closed out the evening she posed for photo’s and signed autographs for each of the girls.