Youth National Team Takeover: Vida Raietparvar

The experience has been amazing! At first it's kind of awkward being around people that you don't know from different states, but when you talk to them you realize that they're not different from you. They're from different states and yes they have different habits and such, but once you talk to them you're like "oh, this is someone I can actually hang out with."

Canada isn't a different story. I mean yes it's a different country and yes they were going to be different in some sort of way, but once you go into the country you realize it is nothing like you expected. Once you finally step out of your shell and you have the courage to talk to them, you realize that they're pretty cool people. Another cool thing is that you can go see different talented players from different places around the world and can take inspiration and put that into your game. 

This is my experience so far and it's been a heck of a good one, too!

Vida Raietparvar (below left, with teammate Abby Smith) is a member of the U.S. Youth Futsal U14 girls national team. She hails from Dallas.