Jodie Taylor on the Challenges in Preparing for the Challenge Cup

With the club able to begin full-team training sessions in Missoula, Montana, OL Reign is preparing for a packed schedule during the 2020 NWSL Challenge Cup. The unique situation surrounding the tournament offers both mental and physical hurdles that must be overcome for the club to be successful. 

If the club makes it to the final, it will play seven matches in 26 days, or roughly once every four days. A frenetic pace, to be sure, but one that is not unheard of in tournament play. 

Forward Jodie Taylor is familiar with such quick turnarounds. The English international was part of a Lionesses squad that took the pitch seven times in 30 days at the 2019 Women’s World Cup, finishing in fourth place. She won the Golden Boot at the 2014 Euros and helped England reach the World Cup semifinals for the first time at the 2015 World Cup in Canada. 

Taylor feels the Challenge Cup will strike a similar tone as those competitions. 

“It really is going to be like a major tournament,” Taylor said. “There will be challenges with it coming off a strict lock-down into a very hurried preseason, that goes without saying. It is a unique situation, with preseason so condensed going into a tournament. Depth to a squad is key in a tournament. It’s about depth and who can last the longest. I think we have brilliant depth to our squad. Now that the draw is done, we can start to prepare.” 

The four weeks of preparation are less than what teams typically have to prepare for big tournaments. As Taylor points out, though, every team is on level footing coming out of two months of restricted activity.  

“It’s consistent for everybody,” Taylor said. “We’re all in the same boat, more than ever. Usually you come into preseason and you’ve had players who have played games abroad or they’ve been with their national team and they’re match fit. I think the whole league is not match fit. They’ve all been on lockdown. We’re all kind of on an even playing field.” 

For Taylor, managing the physical stress of preparation will be a full team effort. 

“It’s just about being sensible, being smart and listening to your body as well,” Taylor said. “We’ve got great staff. (Director of High Performance Nick Leman) is brilliant at managing people’s workloads. I feel in really good hands, medically. A lot of it comes down to trust. It helps when you trust your staff to do the right thing in training and in matches. It does make you feel a little calmer coming into the situation.” 

Other challenges, like overcoming the effects of long-term isolation and having to integrate new teammates on a shorter timetable provide unusual challenges to the club’s preparations. 

“Even socially it’s a challenge,” Taylor said. “I think that’s something that’s underestimated. If you’ve been following the lock-down restrictions and doing what we were supposed to be, we haven’t been around many people. It’s a bit of a shock. Coming in yesterday, it was a bit like the first day of school again. Everyone’s a bit nervous. To be around a group of people, you can’t underestimate that the social stimulation is much more than we’ve been used to for the last several months. We’re slowly trying to find our feet with that as well. It’s great to be back with the team. It’s great to be back on the grass. It’s great to be kicking a ball again. Our players have been training hard, we’ve been given a great program from Nick. We’ve been given technical things to do on our own. Given the circumstances, we’re in pretty good shape, but we can’t underestimate how hard lock-down has been for people physically, mentally and emotionally.” 

As the season opener on June 30 draws nearer and the club continues preparations, Taylor and the club are ready to embrace this latest challenge as a team. 

“It’s a big challenge,” Taylor said. “I don’t think we’ve ever been in this situation before. We’re one of the first sports back, so we’ll just keep preparing and see how we go.”