Indiana Mead is a 2011 standout from Vegas

Indiana Mead is a 2011 standout from Vegas
March 7, 2009

There’s no rocket science or breakthrough training curriculum to credit when determining how Las Vegas-area standout Indiana Mead became such a talented two-way midfielder.

Mead, who recently excelled as an All-Star at the adidas ESP camp, said it was just the natural result of her competing on the field that brought her to this level of play and versatility.

“It just came from playing. I guess I had a good work ethic, so when I lost the ball I went back after it. It made me good at transition and winning the ball back. As far as my ability to attack, I played forward a lot when I was younger.”

Elite club soccer player Indiana Mead.Indiana Mead orchestrates the offense for Neusport SC.
Mead’s matter-of-fact manner of speaking is part of what makes her club coach at Neusport SC, Tom Amick, appreciate her so well. It’s the same way she approaches her relationships with her teammates and her own playing development.

“She’s a neat kid. We play a lot of 4-5-1 and she plays an attacking center mid role. She’s so unassuming. She’ll pass, shoot, share the ball … She’s our only national player we have but she’s not an in-the-spotlight kind of kid,” Amick said. “She wants to do whatever we need her to do to win games. If that means she has to cover a ton of ground to win 50-50 balls, she’ll do that. If that means she needs to take players on and be dynamic in the attack, she’ll do that. If we need her to be the engine that makes the offense run and distribute to pacier kids on the flanks, she’ll do that. There’s no ego about her. That’s why I love her so much. She never complains and always accepts her role for that particular game.”

Mead said she trains with her club team on Mondays and Wednesdays, does strength and agility training with Mike Waters of Phase One Sports on Tuesday and Thursday, then adds technical work with trainer Simon Levitt on weekends, with Fridays designated as her day off. She lives an hour away from training, so schoolwork is often done in a moving automobile.

Her school soccer career was cut short when somebody reported her to the state athletic association last year to say she had played too many club games (Editor’s Note – whatever the intent of these high school rules, the policing and enforcement of them are almost NEVER done with the well-being of the player in mind). So she started playing golf and ended up finishing in the top 10 in the Nevada state championship. But make no mistake, soccer is her game.

“I just love the game,” is how she sums it up.

It showed in a big way at ESP. Mead was all over the field winning balls and distributing with accuracy to keep her team in the attack. She was named an All-Star at the event along with other Region IV ODP players such as Gabriela Iribarne, Molly Poletto, Jennifer Gonzalez, Maya Theuer and Tracy Hong.


She’s getting noticed a lot for her play now. Along with ESP, Mead has been called to a number of U15 and now U17 WNT camps. After the last event in Florida she has begun working on head coach Kazbek Tambi’s call for each player to master juggling a tennis ball.

“I’ve been working hard on that,” she said. “It’s really difficult. If you have one bad touch, then boom! I’ve almost destroyed our living room.”

While she’s very good on the ball, Mead also recalls a juggling attempt in younger years with a regular ball that ended up with a large mirror in the family home being destroyed.

“I got in really big trouble for that,” she said, her laughter contradicting the supposed gravity of her fate on that occasion.

Looking ahead, Mead pledges to push harder for more frequent inclusion at national team events. She doesn’t need to push anymore to have the attention of college coaches, who have been peppering Amick with inquiries after good play at U.S. Youth Soccer’s ODP Interregional at Thanksgiving, The Red Bull event at Raleigh, NC, in December and ESP in February. The 2011 graduate said she is not in a rush to make her college decision.

“I’m keeping an open mind on college since I’m only a sophomore,” she said. “I’m looking for a college program that plays my style of play and has a coach I like.”

 

Click here for a video interview from adidas ESP with Indiana

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