Courtney O’Brien ’15 is trying out for the United States Under-17 women’s soccer team this month. This makes O’Brien the second Wolverine girls’ soccer player to try out for the U-17 team, after fellow midfielder Chloe Castaneda ’15 attended the national team camp in Florida last month.

Coaches for the national women’s team scout potential players and invite them to national soccer camps. O’Brien was one of around 30 girls asked the ECNL/id2 National Training Camp, which took place in Portland, Ore. last August.

O’Brien also received an invitation for a camp in Carson, Calif. where coaches will consider her for the U-17 national team.

Before being accepted to the national team, however, players must prove themselves in a series of camps, O’Brien said.

“The goal is to be invited back to the next camp and continue to prove that you deserve to be there,” O’Brien said.

Coaches are currently working on a final roster, which is due and will be released in February for the national women’s U-17 team. If she is accepted to the team, O’Brien will play in the 2014 U-17 World Cup, which is planned for late March and early April in Costa Rica.

All team members are required to spend at least a month in Costa Rica, in addition to visiting national camps before the World Cup occurs. O’Brien is currently participating in the Elite National Club League fall season.

She practices two hours a week and plays one or two games every weekend, traveling frequently for tournaments, league games and college showcases. O’Brien hopes to continue pursuing her soccer career past high school as well.