The Bard: "The Climb"

Our bags are packed, the bus is loaded, bums are in seats and mine is parked next to Anita Asante. We’re heading to our next hotel in Lahti, where we will play our first game of the group stage against vicious opponent: Italy. The trip so far has been surreal. Finland is absolutely gorgeous. It’s a clean, pristine place with building code restrictions, hardcore metal “musik,” the occasional IKEA, and fantastic art show in one of the local galleries featuring the likes of René Magritte and Salvador Dali. The landscape is lush, green and more often then not the trees tower of said restricted residence. However, what has contributed more to the trip’s surrealism then the surrealists themselves has been the performance of our very own Sky Blue FC!

It’s been exceedingly difficult being away from the team during such a remarkable play-off run. I can only speak for myself (because at the moment Neets, whom I suspect might be suffering from a mild case of narcolepsy, is snoozing away next to me.) We have all grown extremely close over the past six months at Sky Blue FC. We have been through two head coaches, losses, draws, 150 + training sessions, 23 games, injuries, surgeries, suspensions, trades, cuts and travel. But the one constant that has remained is the support and chemistry of the players themselves. While watching the Washington Freedom, and St. Louis Athletica matches I felt our belief and commitment to one another only kept growing and it carried on into the final!

Anita and I were in St. Louis Athletica striker, Eniola Aluko’s room scrambling to make sure we could watch the WPS championship game here and we nearly missed it until Alex Scott, of the Boston Breakers came past the room with it on her laptop. She had found the link on one of the Sky Blue FC fan blog sites so whoever posted the link to scroogetv.com, THANK YOU!!! Meanwhile, being the stubborn person I am, I went back to my room and tried to get the match on my computer when I heard an eruption from down the corridor. I sprinted out of my room, down the hall and into Eni’s room where Anita greeted me with open arms and a hard hug. Heather O’Reilly had just put Sky Blue FC on the board! It was absolutely exhilarating! Our upstairs neighbors didn’t appreciate it however. (Moments later we heard pounding coming from the ceiling.) Didn’t they know what was going on?! Come on! It’s only midnight!

Anyway, it was a fantastic game to watch. I really enjoyed seeing the raw emotion on my teammates’ faces both during and after the game. We all joked about how much “character” the team was going to have at the end of the season and it certainly shined through ‘til the end! I do have to admit, I’m not sure about the red card decision though. The television cameras didn’t capture an angle good enough to properly analyze the foul but it would seem silly for someone to go for a last ditch “elbow to the back of the head” as the last defender.

Bottom line is so many teams, fans, and critics wrote us off and I am so proud to be a part of Sky Blue FC, 2009 WPS Champions! Now everyone knows, “Sky Who? SKY BLUE!”

Karen
 
Karen Bardsley is a goalkeeper for WPS side Sky Blue FC and England’s Women’s National Team. Her column, “The Bard,” appears on Goal.com.

For more on Women's Professional Soccer, go to Goal.com's women's soccer page.