Oct. 4, 2011
WASHINGTON - Ingrid Wells remembers when she was a youngster and going to soccer camps with her father. She remembers being the little girl at those camps.
Wells, now a redshirt senior at Georgetown, also remembers the feeling of awe of being around great players.
Fast forward 10 to 12 years and Wells is now part of that company.
On Sunday, after leading her Hoyas to a 6-0 win over Pittsburgh in a BIG EAST Conference game at North Kehoe Field on the Georgetown campus, Wells boarded a plane bound for Los Angeles, where she is taking part in the first call-ups for the United States National Team.
It's been a lifelong goal for Wells to be considered at this level and starting on Monday, the 5-3 midfielder will get her chance.
"I don't talk about it much," the quiet and somewhat reserve Hoya captain said. "If you told me when I was coming here that I would be in this position, I don't think I would have believed you."
"This is a wonderful opportunity for Ingrid and one she truly deserves," Head Coach Dave Nolan said. "We are all very excited for her and proud.
"Ingrid has been one of the top college players in the country over her career and has worked incredibly hard to become so. It has been special to see someone so committed to her sport reap the rewards. She is a great example for younger players."
But this is a position that Wells has worked for since she started playing, back when she was a youngster in New Jersey and her parents were taking her to Olympic Development camps and she started to see that she could indeed play with those bigger players.
And to play at the highest level was a goal that the determined 23-year-older set for herself - and she would accept nothing less.
"It's emotional for me because I never expected to be here," Wells said. "I've always worked hard to hope that these things would happen. It's hard to explain though.
"When you are given a chance and things do work out for you, it's sometimes hard to believe."
Wells was given a chance when she first came to Georgetown. As a high schooler at Montclair in New Jersey, Wells was recognized as one of the top 50 incoming freshmen and she was a member of the U.S. National pool.
But it was on the Hilltop that she really began to flourish.
"She has helped put our program on the college soccer map and we, in return, have provided her the stage to showcase her talents," Nolan said.
"Dave (Nolan, head coach) giving me the space to do things helped a lot," Wells said. "When I think about it, that's something that has really helped my development.
"I've been able to play a lot in games and I've been able to be creative, and I think that has allowed me to develop in college. I think I've really become a better player being here at Georgetown."
As a freshman in 2007, Wells was named BIG EAST Rookie of the Year after scoring six goals with 13 assists, tying a single-season school record, as the Hoyas advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history.
Already a member of the U.S. Under-20 National Team, Wells had to sit out her sophomore year academically as that team prepared for the World Cup. All that team did was win the World Cup, beating Korea DPR in the final, 2-1, as Wells was an integral part of the midfield attack.
Since her return to the Georgetown lineup in 2009, Wells has continued to dominate at the college level. As a redshirt sophomore, she scored 25 points, tying her career high, with seven goals and 11 assists.
Then last year, as a redshirt junior, she scored a career-high 28 points, setting a school single-season record in that category. Wells scored a career-high nine goals and added 10 assists as the Hoyas had their most successful season in school history, advancing to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament.
In just three seasons of play at Georgetown, Wells has earned three All-American honors, has been an All-BIG EAST First Team selection three times and was named the BIG EAST Midfielder of the Year last year. She has also been named to the Missouri Athletic Club's Hermann Trophy Watch List, recognizing the top player in the country, four times.
During the 2010 season, Wells had another call from U.S. Soccer, this time inviting her to participate in the training for the U-23 National Team. She traveled back and forth throughout the second semester of the year, balancing the team's training schedule, including a spring trip to Brazil, and her school work, where she maintains a grade-point average of around 3.2 in anthropology and environmental studies.
The latter part of that is one of the things that is most important to Wells. She has a full grasp on the fact that there is life is soccer and that is one of the reasons she came to Georgetown.
A strong student in high school, Wells had her pick of schools back in 2007. And with her parent's guidance, she landed on the Hilltop.
"I think, looking back on it, girls are even younger now, when they make their decision, that I was very fortunate to have their guidance," Wells said. "I didn't know what I was going to want, but I think I got really lucky with how things fell into place at Georgetown and coming here."
What she found at Georgetown were like-minded students, those who wanted a balance of competing at the highest level while attending school at one of the most prestigious academic institutions in the country.
"The academics are what you could hope for and soccer-wise, it's been a pretty amazing ride," Well said. "When you go to college, you want to go to a good school. And to be able to play a sport and go to a good school like Georgetown, it's a big deal.
"And to have the option to go to such a good school because of something I love to do, that played a huge role."
Another aspect that played a huge role was the role that she'd be playing at Georgetown. While playing youth soccer growing up, Wells had gone up against Nolan's teams - he coaches a youth team from Bethesda (Md.) - and had an idea of how he liked to play the game.
"Talking to Dave about it, I knew that playing in the BIG EAST would be a challenge because it's a great league," she said. "Dave told me what position he wanted me to play and how I could play and that was the way I envisioned it. I think I knew from playing against his teams that he liked possession-oriented play and that fit me perfectly."
In Georgetown, Wells also found coaches - Nolan, along with associate head coach Naomi Meiburger and assistant coaches Mike Calabretta and Hayley Siegel - who would indulge her desire to practice...and practice more.
"Whenever I want to work on something, whether it's at 8 a.m. in the cold, Dave would always be willing to help me out," Wells said. "I'll constantly be asking him, or Naomi or Mike or Hayley, to go out or to go over things. I appreciate that."
That willingness to help make you better as a player and student has been what Wells appreciates the most.
"My senior class, I think we really did impact this program," she said. "And I think that me being involved in the U.S. program is good for our school and our program and it shows what kind of players can come here. You can have an impact in the BIG EAST and help us make the run like we did last year."
Wells is not through making an impact on the program either. While she will be leaving for Los Angeles to train with the National Team, she knows that she still has a lot to look forward to, both with the U.S. squad and her Hoya teammates.
"I think it's hard to do (train with the U.S. team) in-season, but it doesn't make too much of a difference," she said. "These are the opportunities I want. It is hard to do because I have a lot going on and I have to be thinking about our games, but it's hard not to be thinking about it or to mentally not be there."
She reached another milestone before leaving for Los Angeles during the win over Pittsburgh, scoring a goal and an assist to become the first player in school history to score at least 100 points in her career.
"It has been a great career for her to this point," Nolan said. "She's a special player and we'll reflect on some of those things afterward, but we look forward to her helping to lead our team toward our goals for the rest of the season."
For the rest of this week, the focus for Wells will be on the National Team. She received a call on her cell phone from Nolan about a month ago telling her that the U.S. National Team head coach, Pia Sundhage, had called to ask her to participate.
"He told me that Pia called and I don't think I heard anything after that," Wells recalled. "When I found out, it was a month ago, so it was a bit far away, but now that it's here, the feeling is different."
While she's been through training with national teams before, from the U-20s to the U-23s, she admitted this one is different.
"It's different because you're working with different staff and coaches you don't know so it's uncomfortable that way," she said. "The environment is always competitive and intense, but I'm expecting it to be even more intense."
And intense is the way she likes it.
"I love doing this," Well said. "Anyone who plays a sport that competitively and really cares it about would want this challenge. It just means a lot to me. This is my life right now."
