Benson runs with Puerto Rico in preparation for Olympic Games
SMITHFIELD, R.I. – Rising senior Scout Benson (Lynnfield, Mass.) of the Bryant University women's soccer team continues training this month with the Puerto Rican National Team in preparation for Olympic qualifying games. It was announced Monday that Benson made Puerto Rico's final 23-man roster.
Below, Benson discusses both the physical and mental aspects of playing on the international stage, as well as how it will affect her senior season with the Bulldogs:
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I am thrilled to be down here training with the women's national team. Since I arrived on August 4, we have been training with the U20 National Team in order to play full field scrimmages every day. Training takes place in the afternoon from 6-8 p.m., as well as 8-10 a.m. on the weekends.
Training consists of between 45-60 minutes of conditioning to start practice, including speed and agility work, interval training and endurance training. We then play small-sided games and transition to full field games for the last hour of practice.
Playing in a tropical climate is a new experience for me, but the transition has been smooth over the course of the month that I've been playing here.
The final roster for the Olympic qualifying games was announced Monday, August 17. From then on, training has only included those who have made the final roster (23 players).
The tournament begins Wednesday, August 19 when all of the competing teams check into the Hyatt hotel in Bayamon, Puerto Rico. All of the teams will practice the allowed time of two hours a day at the stadium (Estadio Juan Ramón Loubriel en Bayamón), where we will be competing.
The games have received a lot of attention on the island. Telemundo did a broadcast on our team and the radio has been advertising the games. I am very excited about the attendance of thousands of fans, because it is more than I have ever played in front of before!
In order to advance, we have to win two of the three games. Advancing would mean we would move on to the final qualifying round for the 2016 Olympics in January.
This opportunity feels like a dream. Puerto Rico has never sent a women's soccer team to the Olympics, so I look at this experience as an opportunity to make history and set a precedent for the next generation of players here in Puerto Rico.
The team is like a family down here. We push each other to train with everything we have every day. As the tournament approaches, our level of focus, energy and intensity is at its peak. Everyone is working their hardest for one another and for the country we are representing. I am beyond blessed to be here on behalf of Puerto Rico. I love this island with all of my heart and could not ask for better teammates to share this experience with.
My experience here will translate to collegiate play because of the environment in which we are competing. We are training for a tournament which determines whether or not we advance, just like the NEC Tournament determines who advances to the NCAA tournament.
Playing for a spot in the next and final round of Olympic qualifiers reminds me how much commitment is necessary when competing in a tournament. My sole focus while I am here is to give each game everything I have. This experience is teaching me what it feels like to have no other option but to win.
This feeling of competitiveness and determination to commit everything that I have to my teammates and my country will carry over to Bulldog nation. I want to take this level of intensity and focus back with me to every practice in Smithfield and play every game as if the only option for us is to win.
Being here is what it is all about. I feel so blessed to be playing with these girls under the Puerto Rican flag. The best part of every day I am here is practice, and I can't wait to start competing on the 21st!
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Puerto Rico's Olympic qualifying game schedule is as follows:
August 21 – 8:00 p.m. vs. Granada
August 23 – 7:30 p.m. vs. Aruba
August 25 – 6:30 p.m. vs. Haiti