When the United States women's soccer team's coaching staff needs the perspective of an Olympic veteran, they turn to a Penn Stater.
Penn State women's soccer head coach Erica Dambach is serving as an assistant coach for the United States Women's National Team for Tokyo 2020 — and she's the only member of the coaching staff with Olympic experience, having also been part of the coaching staff that helped the United States win a gold medal in Beijing in 2008.
"Last time, I had an opportunity with Coach Pia Sundhage, and now it's with Coach [Vlatko] Andonovski," Dambach said last week. "When he called and asked me if I'd be interested in this opportunity, without hesitation I jumped in with both feet. This is the pinnacle of a coaching career and opportunity to represent your country in the world games, in the Olympic Games. It's so sentimental at times. I'm just trying to soak in every minute of this journey."
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Ranked by FIFA as the best women's side in the world, the United States is the odds-on favorite to come home with the Gold Medal, and that journey begins on Wednesday at 4:30 a.m., when the USWNT takes on Sweden.
Joining those two in Group G are New Zealand and Australia. The most recent FIFA rankings list Sweden as the No. 5 team in the world, with Australia following closely behind at No.9 and New Zealand at No. 22.
The Gold is the obvious goal for the United States, which has claimed that honor four times over the years. But this group is also trying to make history by becoming the first country ever to follow a World Cup win with Olympic Gold — and that's a target that's been on Dambach's mind and provided some added fuel for the players.
Dambach's role within the coaching staff is focused on working with the United States defensive unit.
For Dambach, that also means working closely with former Nittany Lion goalkeeper Ayssa Naeher, a longtime staple between the sticks for the USWNT.
"I had an opportunity to spend three years with her in State College, and since then, have continued on that relationship as a player and coach," Dambach said. "But as it's gone on I have really grown close with her and her family and enjoyed the opportunity to really get to know her and watch her grow and develop and become the best goalkeeper in the world."
As one might expect, Dambach's day-to-day itinerary in the leadup to Wednesday morning's opener has been intense.
There's one training session per day with the squad, but the coaching staff spends hours tweaking its tactics, studying opponents — looking to gain an advantage however it can.
That's where Dambach becomes an especially important asset to Andonovski, who knows Dambach's experience on this stage is valuable.
"Coach Andonovski will ask me, 'Hey, when this happened to you in Beijing, what was the response, and what are some of the things that I should be considering in this moment?'" Dambach said. "Obviously, that's a unique role that I can play within the staff right now."
In general, Dambach feels she can play an important role as a familiar face for the players, too.
Through her involvement with United States soccer across various youth levels, she also has a rapport with stars like Tobin Heath, Becky Sauerbrunn and Megan Rapinoe.
"I've known some of these players for 15-plus years and have watched them grow up in this system and watched them grow from rookies into these incredibly impressive women that they are today," Dambach said. "Thats inredibly rewarding to just be a small part of their journey."
Embedded with some of the brightest minds in women's soccer, Dambach is hopeful she can extract some lessons to apply when she returns to Penn State to begin the season.
The Nittany Lions are slated to begin their season on August 19 against UMass — two weeks after the gold medal match in Tokyo.
Penn State's players are already hard at work ahead of next season, and Dambach said she committed to them that she take a similar approach in Tokyo.
"This is a huge professional development opportunity," she said. "I'm working with the absolute best coaches in the world, with the best team in the world. I couldn't even tell you the amount of learning opportunities that I've had up to this point, and the best is still yet to come."
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