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Cardinals in the Pros
March 26, 2015 | Women's Soccer
Chelsea Hunter played at the University of Louisville from 2009-13 mostly at center back where she started 45 out of 50 games for the Cards in her time. She was an anchor on two NCAA tournament teams, including the 2011 squad widely regarded as the most successful in program history which reached the Sweet 16 before bowing out to top ranked Florida State.
Chelsea is currently pursuing a professional career in Europe. Last year she spent her time in Finland playing with IK Myran out of the Division 1 league. This season she has returned to Finland but will be playing with Merilappi Unted who plays in the Naisten Liiga, the top level in Finland.
Throughout her season we will feature blog posts from Chelsea regarding her time and experiences playing at one of the highest levels of European soccer there is. Here is her first edition:
I arrived in Finland at the end of February and I am playing for Merilappi Unted who plays in the Naisten Liiga. My stint this year in Finland will last eight months. Last year I had played with IK Myran who was a Division 1 team. This is a step up from last year. Merilappi United plays out of Kemi, Finland (which is almost in Lapland). Jennifer Jones and Charlyn Corral played with this team last year.
When I first arrived I was excited to get playing with new players and enjoying a new part of Finland. Kemi is quite a bit bigger than the last city I was in so exploring the city is on the list for this summer. It has been consistently in the 20 and 30s here. There is still a lot of snow on the ground.
I am living in an apartment with three other girls on the team. It is definitely different from staying with a host family but it's just like being in college again. We are practicing in Ariana Arena which is a full size turf field with a dome covering it.
Our team is well rounded with domestic and foreign players. There Finnish national team players, three American players, one Cameroon player, and one Estonian player. Right now not everyone is here so it is hard to tell how good the team is going to be but I have high hopes.
Trainings are absolutely different than trainings in America. There are some pros and cons. We practice every day except for Wednesday when we are supposed to go lift at the gym in town. A few of us are also training with the Division 1 men's team (Kemi Kings) two times a week to keep our technical skills sharp.
We have already played one training match. We played a Swedish Division 2 team, Gammelgård last Saturday. We won 7-0! Our next training match is today against another Swedish team. Our first official Liiga match is on April 19.
