Gloria Averbuch caught up with Coach Pauliina Miettinen after a couple of days into the pre-season training. Here’s how Miettinen sees things so far.

Q: You’re a very philosophical person, what was your opening message to the players?

A: My opening message wasn’t very philosophical. It was: Don’t come close to me because I’m sick!. I was so out of it when I met the players the first night. I had a fever and I didn’t want to get out of bed. The next day though, it was the same message I’ve given before: not to be too nervous; just give all you’ve got; go at it, and have fun. That’s all you can do at this point.

Q: What do you think of the level of play?

A: I think it’s a very even group. There s a lot of talent. We’re very happy and excited to have all of them. They are different types of players. The quality is very good. Some are excellent. There are very many potential players for us. That’s why we are thinking of keeping them all the whole five days, not to cut in three days, which was the original plan. That tells you how even the group is. There are 21 players, including some of last year’s team—such as Kerri Hanks, Kacey White, Rosana and Jenni Branam.

Q: Are there any surprises?

A: Some of the players didn’t show up as fit as they should have. They probably didn’t realize what the next level is like. On the other hand, some really prepared and you can see that. They reached the fitness goals we set and went beyond them. Overall, all of our draft picks turned out to be good players. It’s just good to see them display different skills. I think that surprised me, that they all possess such different strengths.

Q: That’s the physical component; what about the other of the three measures of the game: the technical and psychological aspects?

A: They are all just different. When we go to the next level, obviously they have to be able to step up. A few can handle the technical aspect of the game. But they are playing against each other right now, and it will be a different game when all our regular players get here. It will make the game much more difficult. These players are still young, still developing. I believe they all have the potential to make it to this high level, but some are still in development--either physically or psychologically. Strength really comes into play because WPS is a physical game; you have to be able, say, to win the 50/50 balls.

I like overall American mentality; players are there to compete and win, and you can see that in every ball they play. A sign of judging their mentality is to look at their facial expressions when they fail. Like any person, they are different. Some are a little tougher than others; they care less or more about making mistakes. That is something very coachable though. You can teach people this aspect.

Q: How will the arrival of the rest of the team affect things?

A: Next week hopefully we will have most of the answers to who remains. I don’t want to prolong the process too much, because I’d like to start with the actual team, and what we need to do. We just have to take care of business and choose our team and move on from that. Obviously, it will affect the new players, but the ones we choose this week we hope can compete with the other players we already have.

Q: What’s next?

A: Right now I’m just enjoying all of it because after being in the office so long it’s good to be on the field seeing the level, watching players play. (although last night I stayed up until 3 am thinking about it.) I am trying to enjoy the moment but look toward the upcoming weeks. I try not to stress out, or I’ll never sleep!. So, I try to do both, enjoy and love the moment, but work on now, and look ahead. As soon as we get the final 22 players, we need to step on the gas.