Soccer stars train at Premier

LAKEWOOD RANCH — Bianca D’Agostino knew from a young age she wanted to play competitive soccer.

The only question was how quickly the center midfielder could turn her dream into a reality. The then 5-year-old started playing club soccer as soon as possible, and it didn’t take long before the sport consumed all her time.

The Longmeadow, Mass., native and Wake Forest graduate has been playing for the U.S. Women’s National Team off and on for the past eight years — most recently as a member of the U.S. Under-23 Women’s National Team.

“It’s been awesome,” D’Agostino said. “It’s definitely had its ups and downs, but it’s a great experience to play with the girls in the country. It prepares you for college and the pros. It’s exciting and tough, but I’ve been enjoying it.”

D’Agostino, who also plays professionally for the Boston Breakers, was one of 24 members of the team who were chosen to participate in weeklong training camp Jan. 16-22, at the Premier Sports Campus at Lakewood Ranch. It was the first time the U.S. U23 Women’s National Team had played at the complex.

“U.S. Soccer always is looking for sites on the east and west coasts,” coach Randy Waldrum said. “We have a number of teams and sites around the country, and we’re (looking) to see how this works and if it has the potential to be a long-term site. We’ve been really pleased with it. It has all of the things we look for when training our teams.”

During the training camp, the team, which featured a mix of professional, recently drafted and collegiate players, spent the week adjusting to playing together and preparing for their upcoming tournament Feb. 20 through March 2, in La Manga, Spain, where they’ll face England, France and Sweden.

“It’s actually been really nice,” D’Agostino said. “It’s a new environment. It’s a little different group and this is the first camp of the year. It’s been fun, though, and a good change.”

The team also played IMG Academies’ boys soccer team and one of the Clearwater Chargers teams for additional practice.

“It’s been a week of good training, and they have provided us great competition,” said Waldrum, who also coaches at the University of Notre Dame and was recently named the U.S. Under-23 Women’s National Team coach. “I’ve just been trying to see the pool players that we have and changing the culture, so it gets to the way I want it done.”

The team participated in two practices every day throughout the week and all of the practices were open to the public, allowing the community, especially the younger up-and-coming soccer players, to see what all goes in to playing at the next level.

“The exciting part is that the local community can come out here, and we’ve even had a few kids come out and watch,” Waldrum said.

Contact Jen Blanco at [email protected].