39-Caitlin Foord-on sacrificing the “little parties in between for the bigger party at the end”

In today’s episode, I interview Australian national soccer team member, Caitlin Foord. Caitlin grew up a 2 minute walk from the beach in Lake Illawarra, New South Wales, Australia. Before Caitlin took up soccer, she participated in athletics, touch football, and surf life saving. At age 9, Caitlin played in her first soccer game at age and scored 6 goals. She hasn’t stopped netting goals since. Caitlin scored a goal in her first appearance with the Matildas. At 16,, she was the youngest Australian player to play in a World Cup and was voted the Best Young Player of the tournament. Caitlin has played in the the Australian W-league with Sydney FC and Perth Glory, in the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) with Sky Blue FC, and is is currently playing in the Japan Women’s Football League  with the Vengalta Sendai Ladies.   In our conversation, we talk about -the biggest differences between playing in Japan, USA, and Australia -the times she had to sell chocolate bars at school to afford to go to soccer tournaments -the sacrifices her mom, a single parent, made to help Caitlin pursue soccer -why Caitlin hates warming-up -her experience with being burned-out from soccer, and the strategy she used to fall back in love with her sport -why she thinks the Matildas' world ranking has continued to rise -her love affair with music festivals, her dog Peach, and Chipotle And more. Enjoy, my conversation with Caitlin Foord!   Show Notes :48 Who is Caitlin Foord  Sky Blue FC 2:50 Caitlin’s adjusting to the Japanese culture 6:40 Caitlin’s Japanese team - Vegalta Sendal 7:24 How does Japanese soccer style compare to US/Australian? 11:40 Cailtin’s early soccer travel and struggles of homesickness 16:00 Cailtlin’s childhood home,  Illawarra 17:40 Cailtin’s young star in soccer v. touch football 21:55 Her mom’s single parent support and selling chocolate bars to pay for      tournaments 27:23 Australian Nat’l team call up at 16 years old. 32:10 Cailtin’s favorite game 35:38 Her ability to separate soccer from other aspects of her life 40:29 Has she ever been burnt out from soccer? 43:20 Are their training things that Cailtin doesn’t like? 45:29 Caitlin’s morning routine Brittney Cameron @bcam00 47:01 Caitlin’s free time activities 48:15 Caitlin’s biggest misconception about herself 50:28 Is Caitlin a go with the flow athlete or an overthinker? 51:50 Her biggest accomplishment 52:45 What does she want to accomplish before she retires? And how does she want to be remembered? 53:45 Caitlin’s pregame body and mental prep 54:30 How does she deal with a bad game? 56:13 Best opponent and best teammate Christie Rampone @christierampone Sam Kerr @samkerr1 59:38 Best game day chants 1:00:39 Biggest life lesson from playing soccer 1:01:55 How does Caitlin eat a taco? 1:02:58 One simple tip for female athletes 1:04:22 Caitlin Foord   Follow Caitlin: On Twitter: @CaitlinFoord On Instagram: @CaitlinFoord Caitlin’s obsession with her dog Peach (Instagram: @BrindlePeach Share the love If you haven’t already, I would be so very grateful if you rated and left me a review of the podcast. It takes two minutes! Here’s what to do. Click HERE Click “view in itunes” Click the “ratings and reviews” tab Click “write a review” and show me love <3 Resources Click HERE to become a part of Friday Feelz Click HERE for a list of the 10 books I believe ever female athlete MUST read. Click HERE  to be the first to know when a new podcast or article drops, and receive other exclusive content