Field of Dreams

Ameera Abdullah

Ameera Abdullah
Age: 21
Occupation: student at University of Florida studying recreation and event management
24 Hour Fitness Club: Denver

Goal: Play pro soccer

The Plan: After earning a spot on the U.S. U-23 (under age 23) women’s team, which holds national training camps and travels internationally to play other countries’ teams, Abdullah hopes to eventually be drafted to either the 2008 women’s Olympic team or the Women’s Professional Soccer league, slated to premier in spring 2009.

She’s also hoping to outpace her college teammates on the University of Florida women’s soccer team in an annual post-summer fitness test, where she’ll be timed in five 300-yard runs, five 120-yard sprints, and five shuttle runs.

The Obstacle: Nursing an ankle injury: While charging for a ball, a goalkeeper landed on her left foot, tearing the muscles, ligaments, and tendons in her ankle.

The Solution: She’s known for her one-on-one play—maneuvering past her opponent with the ball in tow—so she needs to build strength and range of motion for the constant shifting and springing on the field. In the gym, she started out with push-and-pull resistance band work to get her ankle moving. “With bands there’s constant resistance the whole time, so she’s able to strengthen muscles on the inside and outside in one shot,” says Courtney Shelby, trainer at the Glendale, Colorado, location where Abdullah and her parents are members. Over time, Abdullah worked up to strength and balance exercises on discs and foam pads, balancing on one leg and then staying steady while lowering to the ground. Shelby says these moves engage all the muscles around the ankles: soleus (calf), gastrocnemius (calf), interior tibialis (shin), as well as the hamstrings, quads, and glutes. With all the muscle flexion and extension of running, kicking, and pushing off constantly in varying directions, resistance and balance work is a soccer player’s must-do.

Now back in playing condition, making quick and explosive direction changes on the field, she’s focusing on power exercises, which will also prep her for speed tests in the fall. She performs Olympic-style lifting in the gym, such as cleans, power cleans, hang cleans, snatch, or hand snatch. These exercises strengthen her whole body and help her dart for the ball, get there first, and without toppling over.

Thanks to all the gym prep, Abdullah recently started as a forward in U-23 games against England, and hopes to attend some upcoming training camps in the United States.