But it's just so important to put in the work behind the scenes. When I'm here training on a daily basis - then I go away, I'm sharp, fit, and I'm ready to go. It's where I get my reps, it's where I get my touches, where I get my confidence. If I'm not shooting properly, he makes one minor adjustment in training and then it's fixed. People may not realize and really grasp the full effect of why I need to be home, but when I'm home, James makes adjustments. What does it mean to you to be able to come back here still, and be able to train in some amount of anonymity? We arrive here on the side of the Barn and walk to the front, open the door, and then open the side door. It's part of the job, part of the responsibility. I shag balls, I carry the balls, I do it all. So the reigning FIFA Women's Player of the Year carries the bag of balls to her own car at the end of a practice session? Here's a transcript, lightly edited for clarity. Our conversation covered a wide range of subjects on and off the field. When she came back inside, she was ready to talk for a while. was the only time they could get the place to themselves, but there weren't any gates or security guards keeping people out.Īnd if you were outside the Blue Barn just after 10 a.m., you'd have seen Lloyd carry the bag of practice balls out to the adjacent parking lot herself. Of course, Lloyd and Galanis knew that 8 a.m. You could have come to the rec center just like anyone else on Wednesday, because it's a publicly-owned facility. That includes Lloyd, Alex Morgan, Megan Rapinoe and so many others. (Though not as well-paid for their labor, and we'll get to that in a minute.)īut so many players on the national team, even its biggest names, remain the same down-to-earth people they were before they became famous. women's national team stars is increasingly harder to do - and for good reason, because they've become just as high-profile as professional athletes in other sports. There's a banner above one of the three basketball courts under the giant vaulted roof that reads: "Carli Lloyd Court / 2015 World Champion."īut if you're an outsider, you might be surprised at just how simple the building is that Lloyd so often credits as the place where it all started.įor once, there were no minders, agents, PR flacks or other people around to hang over anyone's shoulders. Lots of people in South Jersey know about the famed "Blue Barn," of course especially within the local soccer community. You might not even have known that Lloyd was on the property if you were walking your dog on the sun-splashed playground nearby.īut if you happened to be near the indoor recreation center when the side door opened, you would have heard the rhythmic thumping of a soccer ball repeatedly hitting a foot, then a hard floor, then a foot again, then the floor again.Īnd if you took a moment to look at the roof of the building, and the doors, and the color of the paint on the inside walls, you'd have no doubt about where you were. While South Jersey's highways were a cacophony of noise, the Marlton Memorial Park was quiet and still. If you were driving on Route 70 on your way into work Wednesday morning, you wouldn't have known that Carli Lloyd was working out just down the road.
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