CARSON “”mdash; Val Henderson finds herself in an interesting new position.
She is still a goalkeeper and still a good one, but for the first time in years she’s also a backup.
“I think it has been maybe somewhat humbling to be on this team, but being in L.A. and being the second, I couldn’t ask for a better circumstance when I’m not playing,” Henderson said. “It’s hard to complain when I’m down here and playing for the best team.”
UCLA’s all-time leader in career goalkeeping victories, Henderson is second on the L.A. Sol’s depth chart to Karina LeBlanc, a staple of the Canadian national team and a former starter in the Women’s United Soccer Association, the first professional women’s soccer league in the world.
Henderson, now in her first year playing professionally, said that playing behind someone with so much experience has been beneficial to her.
“If anything, I’m learning from (LeBlanc) and it’s good for me to be pushed in a different environment,” Henderson said. “Having been No. 1, I haven’t necessarily had a keeper to look up to in the training environment.”
Henderson started May 24 against the FC Gold Pride while LeBlanc was away playing for Canada and recorded a 2-0 shutout en route to a Los Angeles win.
“It’s nice to reassure yourself that you can still jump in and do the job,” Henderson said. “Karina has made no mistakes thus far, and she deserves to be in that starting role, but it is nice to show my teammates that if anything were to happen, I’m absolutely prepared for the job.”
EXCEEDING EXPECTATIONS: Players on both the Sol and the Athletica echoed a similar sentiment on Wednesday after a league-match between the two teams, saying that the league has exceeded their expectations in several ways, most specifically with regard to the level of play.
“Training is definitely different than what I’ve experienced at UCLA at the pro level,” said McCall Zerboni, UCLA alumna and Sol midfielder. “But it’s for the better. So we can always improve.”
“(At UCLA), I felt I was competing with the best players in the U.S., and now combining that with the best players in the world and even the elite of the college teams … it’s really tough to get into this league,” Henderson said. “Twenty-two players per team and seven teams, that’s not very many players.”
PLAYING WITH THE BEST ““
LITERALLY: Despite Wednesday’s contest displaying several of the top players in the world, all eyes were still fixated squarely on Marta, the three-time FIFA Women’s Soccer Player of the Year and a starting forward for the Sol.
On several occasions throughout the game, Marta justified the attention, coming from several yards behind the ball and using her speed and technical skill to outrun other players to the ball, possess it and single-handedly create scoring opportunities.
Henderson said she remembers being surprised the moment Marta hit the field for the inaugural match of the WPS season.
“I thought I had seen Marta running her fastest and shooting her hardest, but she took it to a completely new level (during that game),” Henderson said.
Marta leads the league in goals (9), shots (44), and shots on goal (25). On Wednesday, however, Marta drew a yellow card after arguing with a referee. Henderson, who roomed with Marta on a recent road trip, said that Marta is such an intense player that she plays with the same passion in a regular season match as she would in the World Cup.
“She is fun. She is lively,” Henderson said of Marta. “She is always kind of singing or having some tune going on. She likes to play the guitar a little bit. She is a very passionate person.”