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Mostly Cloudy Mepham grad, soccer star is Germany-bound
Sade Ayinde to play in final camp with U-20 National Team
North Bellmore native Sade Ayinde has never been on foreign soil. That will change when she travels to Germany with the U.S. Under-20 National Soccer Team next month.
Ayinde, a Mepham graduate who recently finished her sophomore year at the University of Maryland, completed a two-week camp with the U.S. U-20 women's team in California last week. The 23-member team played two games each against New Zealand and Mexico, and the U.S. won all four games.
Ayinde, a central defender who got her start with the East Meadow Soccer Club, scored a goal in a 4-0 win over New Zealand. She said she felt that match was an important moment for the U.S. team.
"It felt like the whole team played together really well, and I was really comfortable," she said.
The team's final one-week camp will take place in Germany starting on June 6. It's the last step before the U-20 World Cup in July. Having already played international matches with the team and proven herself, Ayinde said she hopes to maintain her level of play at the Germany camp. "I'm looking forward to the experience, playing against some really good competition," she said. "And hopefully playing well enough to make the World Cup roster."
While making the World Cup team is an immediate goal, she also has her eyes set on things to come. Ayinde, who said that she would like to continue to play at the national level and in the Women's Professional Soccer League, has gained confidence with the U-20 team.
"Just knowing that I can play at this high of a level right now, it's helping me get to where I want to be eventually," she said.
That also involves getting back to the field in Maryland, where she'll be a starting forward in the fall. Ayinde was recruited as a forward by Terps head coach Brian Pensky, but started at central back every game of her freshman year. Pensky said the team was having trouble putting the ball in the net, so they decided to move Ayinde up for the spring 2009 season.
"She is so skillful and so comfortable around the goal," Pensky said. "So we wanted to use her up top; we brought her in to be a goal scorer, and we wanted to go with that."
