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Ivy Chen, third from left, poses with some teammates and players from a local team during Team Florida ODP's trip to Germany and Austria for the Cordial Cup. Courtesy photo
Ivy Chen in a friendly against a Bayern Munich Academy team. Courtesy photo
Ivy Chen (10) and Team Florida ODP running out to line up for a game during their trip to Germany and Austria. Courtesy photo
Ivy Chen (10) during warmups before a game with Team Florida ODP in Europe. Courtesy photo
Flagler Palm Coast soccer player Ivy Chen traveled to Germany and Austria with the United States Youth Soccer Florida Olympic Development Program’s U15 girls team last month and played in the prestigious Cordial Cup tournament.
“It was my first time visiting Europe. It was really cool to experience the difference in cultures,” said Chen, whose highlights of the trip included scoring a pair of goals against a Bayern Munich Academy team in a friendly and recording two assists in the Cordial Cup games in Austria.
“She was texting me while she was there,” said Cat Bradley, FPC’s assistant girls soccer coach. “I think the overall experience for her to be able to do that is pretty fantastic.”
Chen, who will be a sophomore in August, had been selected as one of 60 players for Team Florida’s ODP pool training for the second straight year. She did not make the Florida team but was one of a handful of players invited to join the team for the European trip on May 10-20 to complete the roster.
All the players on the trip received equal playing time. Team Florida played three friendlies in Germany and seven 30-minute games in the Cordial Cup in Austria, Chen said. Chen and her teammates won their group. They lost in the quarterfinals to another USYS team — Regional ODP, which was the eventual tounament champ. Team Florida placed eighth.
On thing that stood out to Chen on the trip was the drinking water.
“The tap water was drinkable and really clear. But they didn’t provide ice. That’s not really a big thing in Europe,” she said.
She knew a few of her teammates from pool trainings, but she said they all got closer during the trip. She and her teammates also got to meet a lot of European players their age.
“After the games we would take a group picture and exchange Instagrams to keep in touch,” she said.
She played a winger position on the trip with Team Florida, but her preferred position is attacking midfielder. As a freshman, she scored 10 goals for FPC last season.
“She puts a lot of time and energy into the game of soccer,” Bradley said. “She’s an impact player for us. Ivy has some energy to bring.”
Chen, who is an International Baccalaureate student at FPC, has a busy summer planned: Conditioning and summer workouts with the Bulldogs and her club team, Florida Elite; plus FPC’s soccer camp, a North Florida Soccer Academy camp, a University of North Florida soccer camp and a college ID camp at Harvard University.
Last year she participated in Princeton’s ID camp.
“Every year I want to do a camp at one of the Ivy League colleges,” she said. “Going to an Ivy League school has always been my goal, and I still want to play soccer. So, it’s nice to be able to talk to coaches and get to know the schools more.”
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