Seattle Reign FC Preseason Availability • Monday, January 29, 2024
Seattle Reign FC Preseason Availability • Monday, January 29, 2024
2024 NWSL Draft Picks
Midfielder Sam Meza, Forward Maddie Mercado, Defender Makena Carr
On how preseason camp has been:
Meza: “It’s been really great. The team is awesome, they’re all very nice and very welcoming, so that always makes the process a little bit easier for rookies. The staff is also really great – willing to do anything to help. The energy has been awesome as well.”
Carr: “The team, the staff made that transition for us really smooth and super easy and overall, it’s just been super great getting to know everyone.”
Mercado: “I would say that the team and the staff have both been very welcoming and obviously helped us as rookies start to adjust everything because it’s like a new journey for us. So yeah, it’s been good so far.”
On what they remember from draft night when they heard their name called:
Meza: “I chose to do at home just to be around my family, but the experience was super awesome. Obviously, you’re only allowed to enter the Draft once, so it was a once-in-a-life-time experience. It was just super exciting. It was very emotional, a lot of emotions going on that day, but obviously super excited to be here. I’ve never visited Seattle and I actually don’t know much about Seattle in general, so it was really exciting to know that I was going to be at a place where they’re interested in developing players and in a place where it’s new. So, I get to learn some new things.”
Carr: “For me, it was also pretty emotional, but just a cool opportunity overall and just the fact that I get to do this right at home with my family, they’re super thrilled and so am I. I’ve been following Reign for a while and one thing about them is that they’re a really good team and two, just so good at growing and developing their players and so that’s what I was really looking forward to, just super excited to grow my game even more with Reign.”
Mercado: “I also chose to do the Draft from home, so I had all my best friends and family around, which was amazing to kind of experience that with them and then like Sam (Meza) said, it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, so to hear your name called is very special. I’m sure, like these two, I’ve wanted to play soccer since I was a young girl, professionally. So, to kind of have this start of that dream kind of unfold is really special. So yeah, it was a fun night and obviously, the Reign is a very good team. I’m kind of the same [as Sam], I’ve never really been to Seattle, I’m from California, so it’s not too far and I’ve heard that there’s a lot of good food and coffee and lots to do in the city, so I’m excited to explore.”
On if Mercado and Meza have picked her brain about things to do in Seattle:
Carr: “Yeah, they have and then I’ve also been like, ‘Hey guys, let’s go try this out, let’s go here,’ I’m kind of like their tour guide. But I think for me, it’s super exciting just to go back to places that I would always go to when I was just growing up in Seattle, so it’s super exciting and I’m really happy to be back.”
On how they would describe their style of play:
Meza: “I think I have a very Latin kind of style about me. I like to have the ball on my feet, I like to drive at people, the 1-v-1 is fun, I like the creativity of it all, the freedom of it all, the fluidity of it all.”
Carr: “I’ve played multiple positions. I’ve played the winger and then I transitioned to outside back. So, as a winger, I’d say I was very much still composed on the ball, loved to find slit passes to other people and create those opportunities for other teammates and then as an outside back, still have that composure piece and I think just unpredictability. So, there are just things that I would do and I’m like, ‘OK, cool,’ so I love to get up the field. I would sometimes play a little bit reserved, but I would just say, pretty unpredictable.”
Mercado: “I guess kind of similar to these two – pretty possession-oriented, I love to combine, especially in the attacking third. I think being creative, both on and off the field, is something that’s always kind of been fun for me. So, obviously soccer is a very creative sport, so to kind of bring your own flare to that is fun for me and I think, especially when you can set your teammates up for goals, set yourself up for goal, have a few pretty combinations and break the line and whatnot, so that’s kind of the way that I like to play.”
On what they’ve heard about the Reign coming in:
Meza: “Obviously, they had a really good season last year and it’s always a little nerve-racking coming in as a rookie and not really knowing what to expect and how you’re going to fit into the style, but I think based off of the games that I’ve seen, they’re a great team, they like to combine, they like to go direct when necessary. So, it’s a very versatile type team, trying the best way to be efficient in scoring.”
Mercado: “Obviously, there has been so many great players who have been through this club throughout the year, so I think to kind of enter that a little bit is exciting, but also as a rookie, it’s nerve-racking too. Kind of like Sam said, it’s your first few weeks as a rookie, you’re kind of figuring out how your teammates play, how you’re going to fit into that style. It’s been fun, though, kind of seeing how you fit in and how your style and all that stuff correlates.”
On training with the team for the first time:
Meza: “As a rookie, it is very nerve-racking, you don’t really know your role yet or kind of how you’re going to fit in, so it’s definitely a nerve-racking thing but very exciting. For me, college season ended pretty early, so we had some time to just train, so it was really nice to come back and have a good, solid group and be part of a team in training. I just think it was awesome. I’ve really enjoyed my time so far.”
Carr: “I just took in every single moment in me because it’s such a wonderful opportunity just to be here with such amazing people and players, so I’m beyond grateful for this opportunity. So, for me, I was just kind of taking it all in and just continuing to have belief in myself and just learning and growing from the best.”
Mercado: “Obviously, very, very grateful for the opportunity to be surrounded by so many great players and obviously players who’ve played at the highest level for many, many years, some of them. I think, for me, it’s cool to be able to learn from those around you and kind of absorb just as much as you can on and off the field. So yeah, the first two days have been great, they’ve been exciting and like all of us have said, everybody has been warm and welcoming and given us great feedback on the field so far, so it’s been good.”
On her journey working her way back from injuries:
Carr: “I’ll try to explain this without getting emotional, but it was an emotional one. I got hurt February of [20]21 and it was a multi-ligament injury, so there was a lot of swelling that came right after the incident, so we took a couple months off. In the meantime, I was rehabbing just for the swelling to go down and then we would kind of re-evaluate my knee and everything. So, I was offered a rare option to go down the non-surgical route, so I chose that because they were testing my knee and they said that the ligaments around your ACL were stable, so they were like, ‘You could come back on a torn ACL and obviously being put in a brace,’ so I’m like, ‘OK, cool, let’s do this,’ so I did that for, I think it was about four months. So, they treated me as if I was six months post-op and so then I was back for training camp for the fall of the 21 season and then it was mid-August, I went down again and we found out that with the MRI that I had fully torn my ACL and that it was partially torn in the beginning but we didn’t know that because of all the swelling, so I got surgery at the end of August and then I was rehabbing and it took me about a year to come back for the 22 season. So yeah, it was one heck of a journey, but super grateful to be here and I honestly wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for my injury.”
On if her journey was emotional because of the hard route or because of the pride after recovering from it:
Carr: “It was actually a little bit of both. It’s just crazy to look back at it and just be like, ‘Wow, I did that?’ It was a rollercoaster. I was, honestly, so beyond grateful for my teammates at (University of Washington) UW. Unfortunately, there was a handful of girls that went through that injury, but they’ve been through it before. So, to lean on them was everything to me to make that process to go as smooth as possible. When I got hurt the last time, because covid hit in the fall of 2020, so that was when the season got pushed to the winter/spring of 21 and that’s when I got hurt, so I missed that season and then I missed the fall season of 21. Looking back, I was just like, ‘Wow, the last time I played was in the fall of 2019, in a game,’ so like I said, it’s been one heck of a journey, but definitely a lot of pride to it, too.”
On if any of the veteran players have taken them under their wing and what the experience has been like:
Meza: “I think, like we’ve said, they’ve all done a really, really good job of kind of checking in on us, on and off the field, and on the field, giving us feedback when necessary. So, (forward) Jordyn Huitema, I knew her growing up, playing on the national team and I’ve been able to get really close to her this trip, which has been super awesome, just getting to know her a little bit better and she has been one person for me that has kind of took me under her wing and kind of given me some guidance, which has been super awesome.”
Carr: “Everyone checks in and it’s so awesome. I have two former UW teammates, (defender) Shae Holmes and (midfielder) Olivia Van der Jagt, so I already knew them coming in and so they took me in under their wing. Yeah, just to make this transition a lot smoother for me and they’ve been absolutely so wonderful.”
Mercado: “Everybody has been awesome, on and off the field, asking us if we need anything and giving us advice and pointers and things. I didn’t know anybody coming in to the team. I knew people through other people, the soccer world is kind of small in that way, but Shae Holmes, I’m actually rooming with her right now, so it’s been nice to kind of spend time with her and she’s given me a lot of pointers and advice and everything. So, it’s been nice the past few days to kind of have that.”
On if she has experience playing at Starfire growing up:
Carr: “Yeah, a lot of memories at Starfire, especially fields three and four, right behind the stadium, I’ve played in field two and then obviously the stadium field. So, I played at Eastside FC, so when we would play PAC, we would play at Starfire or if there was a tournament there, we would play tournaments and then I also played on the Washington ODP team, so our trainings were at Starfire. So yeah, when I go there, it brings back a lot of youth memories, which is super cool, so I’m super excited to be back training at Starfire.”