Crystal Dunn among 20 on USWNT Olympics qualifying roster

 

Crystal Dunn
Crystal Dunn

 

 

World Cup champion and Rockville Centre native Crystal Dunn headlined the roster announced Tuesday by U.S. women’s national team coach Jill Ellis for next month’s Olympic qualification tournament.Crystal Dunn is among 20 on USWNT Olympics qualifying roster

Ellis also included promising young players Emily Sonnett, Samantha Mewis, Dunn and 17-year-old sensation Mallory Pugh, the youngest woman ever named to a U.S. qualifying roster.

The roster, with NWSL affiliation, includes:

Goalkeepers: Ashlyn Harris (Orlando Pride), Alyssa Naeher (Chicago Red Stars), Hope Solo (Seattle Reign FC).

Defenders: Jaelene Hinkle (Western New York Flash), Julie Johnston (Chicago Red Stars), Meghan Klingenberg (Portland Thorns FC), Ali Krieger (Washington Spirit), Kelley O’Hara (Sky Blue FC), Becky Sauerbrunn (FC Kansas City), Emily Sonnett (Portland Thorns FC).

Midfielders: Morgan Brian (Houston Dash), Tobin Heath (Portland Thorns FC), Lindsey Horan (Portland Thorns FC), Carli Lloyd (Houston Dash), Samantha Mewis (Western New York Flash).

Forwards: Crystal Dunn (Washington Spirit), Stephanie McCaffrey (Boston Breakers), Alex Morgan (Orlando Pride), Christen Press (Chicago Red Stars), Mallory Pugh (Real Colorado).

 

The 23-year-old Dunn can play defense, midfield and forward. Her versatility has made her an invaluable performer since there are five fewer spots on the 18-player Olympic roster than for the WWC. Dunn sees herself as a midfielder.

“Midfielders have the best of both worlds,” she said. “They could score. They can also assist. They play quite a bit of defense as well. It’s always been a position where I express myself and the different dynamics of the game.”

Dunn’s resilience impressed WWC coach Jill Ellis, who brought her in for the CONCACAF Olympic Women’s Championship that kicks off at two sites in Texas Wednesday.

“She could have gone home and put her head down,” Ellis said. “It energized her. The disappointment wore off and the motivation kicked in.”

Washington Spirit forward Crystal Dunn was voted the National Women’s Soccer League Most Valuable Player for the 2015 NWSL season, the league announced Wednesday.

Dunn, 23, becomes the youngest player to win the award – ahead of 2014 MVP Kim Little (who was 24 at the time) and 2013 MVP Lauren Holiday (who was 25).

The Rockville Centre, N.Y. native also became the third consecutive NWSL Golden Boot winner – honoring the player with the most goals in a season – to go on to be voted MVP in the same year.

 

 

 

 

SPG is now Powered By Trazer !

trazer in action

                             React, accelerate, cut in response to unpredictable game play.

TRAZER Performance

Preplanned drills leave athletes unprepared. And key performance parameters unmeasured. TRAZER simulates a dynamic sports environment. The athlete reacts, accelerates and cuts to unpredictable visual cues. Test, train “game-ready”; not pieces of game ready. TRAZER. A powerful new testing, training tool for athlete development, sports injury prevention and rehab programs. Measure what a stopwatch can’t…

  • Calculate, train the stance that maximizes agility and reduces injury
  • Detect directional differences in reaction time, acceleration, speed.
  • Detect improper jump landings. Display jump height in real-time.
TRAZER Performance Research

Athletes react, accelerate, cut in response to unpredictable game play.

TRAZER Performance

Preplanned drills leave athletes unprepared. And key performance parameters unmeasured. TRAZER simulates a dynamic sports environment. The athlete reacts, accelerates and cuts to unpredictable visual cues. Test, train “game-ready”; not pieces of game ready. TRAZER. A powerful new testing, training tool for athlete development, sports injury prevention and rehab programs. Measure what a stopwatch can’t…

  • Calculate, train the stance that maximizes agility and reduces injury
  • Detect directional differences in reaction time, acceleration, speed.
  • Detect improper jump landings. Display jump height in real-time.

T

 

Expect Amazing Results.


PowerTRAQ Strength and Power Training with TRAZER

Buckle up for the most effective strength and power-building workout your athletes have ever experienced.

During TRAZER play, up to 6 cables are strategically attached for interactive, total-body strength training. The result? Even more lean muscle mass built. Improved movement speed, power, agility and stamina. All while reducing the forces on sensitive joints.

Build incredible, sport specific strength and power.

Add resistive cables during TRAZER training to develop the muscles that move your player fore/aft, side-to-side, up down, that twist and turn, and that stop and start. Muscles difficult to develop with free weights.

Building horizontal and rotational strength and power is essential for starting, stopping, rotating, pushing, pulling and running. The obvious limitation of conventional strength training with free weights is that it relies on gravity for resistance in the vertical plane. With TRAZER, strength and power building programs become interactive, ground-based, anaerobic, total body and 3-dimensional.


TRAZER Info improves your athlete’s performance!  

Use TRAZER’s Vector-Based Tests to Isolate Movement Deficits and Hone Skills

TRAZER determines if your….

…player’s “natural” stance maximizes their 1st step quickness, speed, agility, balance and stamina. And TRAZER has programs to reinforce your player’s optimal stance.

…player reacts, starts, moves and stops equally well in all movement directions. Differences invisible to the eye or stopwatch may indicate an existing injury or weakness that can be corrected or improved via TRAZER training.

…player has deficits in her reaction time. 1st step quickness. Speed. Agility. Braking. TRAZER measures each of these critical components and more. Build incredible, sport specific strength and power.

Only TRAZER sees what the eye cannot. Use the information from TRAZER’s Performance Graphs to MOVE. MEASURE. MOTIVATE.

Measure the previously immeasurable:

Reaction Time
Speed
Acceleration
Deceleration
Track Heart Rate during sport specific movement
Core Jump Height

  • MOVE – TRAZER elicits both planned and unplanned responses because game play creates different neuromuscular or musculoskeletal demands than pre-planned drills do. Research has shown that “training the brain to respond to unexpected stimuli… is more beneficial than performing rote training exercises…”
  • MEASURE – In multiple directions, TRAZER measures the previously immeasurable. Reaction time, velocity, acceleration and deceleration and core elevations. It provides the power to detect movement asymmetries and weaknesses to guide your performance enhancement and injury prevention programs.
  • MOTIVATE – TRAZER play stirs the competitive juices. It motivates by making rigorous training competitive, driving players to max efforts.

Document your athletes’ progress over time by comparing reports.

“TRAZER’s 3-dimensional exercise summons the entire body into action. It’s game-like exercise that involves the mind while training all the muscle groups in a coordinated manner. Hence its ability to burn calories at an unprecedented rate.” Dr. Mark Schickendantz, M.D., Cleveland Indians, Cleveland Browns Head Physician
“I have seen the future of athlete development, and it is called the TRAZER sport simulator.”  Barry Sanders, NFL Football Great
“Blending exercise science and sports simulation creates a compelling resource for the client who demands the best from her mind and body.” Alan Davis, M.D., Sports Medicine / Orthopedic Surgeon The Cleveland Clinic
“TRAZER…provides injured people with a faster transition back to pre-injury routine, whether that routine involves tennis, basketball, football or simply walking around.” Craig Goodwin, Owner/Operator Orthopedic and Sports Therapy of Kenner; The Duke Academy, Kenner, LA

 

 

 

Is Every trainer a Sports Specific Trainer ?

What to Look For in a Sports Specific Trainer

Everyone these days offers Sports Specific Personal Training.  I guess anyone can go online to become certified.  But would you entrust your child with a certified trainer?  what should you ask and look for?

 

When looking for someone to train your child it’s best to look for specific credentials and ask the trainer if you can observe a session with another client before making your decision.  Below are some ideas about what to look for in the trainer.

 

  1. What certifications does your child’s trainer hold and where did they come from?
  2. What is the trainer’s personal history?  Does he/she hold a background in athletics?
  3. How many years has the trainer worked with children?
  4. How many years has the trainer devoted to Athletic Training?
  5. Has the trainer worked with any Elite trainers to develop a stronger background?
  6. Has the trainer helped to condition athletes in a variety of sports?
  7. What is the trainer’s training philosophy?
  8. Has the trainer published any books or articles in the field?
  9. Is the trainer able to handle special situations such as injuries?
  10. Does the trainer use up to date methods of training instead of just weights?

 

You should come armed with all of these questions and make sure the trainer can answer them.  Your efforts into developing the best athletes are paramount to seeing that athlete continue to develop in his or her sport.You are entrusting your athletes’ dreams on this trainers expertise. Their future development depend on your educated choices.

The six stages of injury

Oftentimes an athlete approaches a physician with a sense that something is wrong. This is usually normal and the athlete will subsequently be told that there is nothing wrong after all. But something is wrong if the athlete isn’t feeling well.The six stages of injury allow you to understand your body.

Addressing the initial stages of illness or injury before the occurrence of symptoms manifest themselves has been problematic in western sports. In contrast, eastern philosophy teaches that the injury is in its later stages when it reveals itself to the body. Usually, weakness or injury first occurs as awareness .Similarly, when an injury begins to regress, the first changes occur in our consciousness. The athlete often knows he or she is getting better before the doctor can detect any changes in an objective study.

Eastern philosophy recognizes six stages of a disease. Each of which may continue for some time. The athlete perceptive awareness of each stage however always perceives any measurable or observable changes. As you read the descriptions below, notice how the first 3 stages of occurring in the yet to be manifested field of physiology, while only three stages occur at the material level.

accumulation As a result of less-than-ideal choices, imbalances begin to accumulate in the body. The cause of the imbalance can be traced to some toxicity which may be a physical environment ,in a food or even in a relationship
Aggravation – If the accumulation of toxicity progresses the body begins to distort normal functioning in a subtle manner.
Dissemination – At this stage, the imbalance is no longer contained. The athlete experiences vague systematic symptoms such as fatigue or generalized discomfort.
Localizationeventually the toxic imbalance localizes in an area of your anatomy where some weakness or injury exists perhaps due to an old trauma or some inherited weakness or tendency
Manifestation – If the process is allowed to go further ,an obvious dysfunction is revealed ,perhaps as a muscular flare-up ,arthritic joint pain an early stage of infection or some other weakness
Disruption – Finally if efforts to reverse the weakness process are not instituted the stage of disruption is reached with the arrival of a full-blown illness or injury

What actually prevents the onset of these stages is proper supplementation and nutritional awareness. When questioning the need to eat properly , take the supplements, ice, and stretch after practice.Your answer lies somewhere in the six stages.