Landon Donovan and Stuart Holden Want to Take On USWNT
Photos by Christine CastanoSoccer legends Landon Donovan, Stuart Holden and Brian Ching were in Austin, Texas, and took some time out from their HELM soccer camp for a 3v3 fan charity match. Could a 3v3 with Meghan Klingenberg, Morgan Brian and Carli Lloyd of the Women’s National team be next? I caught up with the guys before the match and got the scoop on that and much more.
According to Landon, the three former US National stars wanted to stay connected to each other, and to the game—“once you retire, you feel a little distant from it.” Together they formed HELM and choose Austin, Texas, as the first location for their youth soccer camp and fundraising efforts for Soccer Assist, and the Austin Aztex Foundation.
Here’s Landon and Stuart’s take on everything from giving back to the community to the current status of the National Team.
Landon Donovan on HELM:
“We wanted to help children; we all share in that passion. We wanted to give back and so the obvious answer was to do a camp and then we had to figure out what would make it different and special and something that’s memorable for everybody. We have the obvious camp component, which helps the children and gives us a lot personally – I think we’ve all gotten a lot out of that. And then we have charitable components we’re tying in the community. We want everybody to feel like they are part of this.”
Stuart Holden on giving back:
“It helps our footprint in every city that we head to because it’s not all about going in there and running a soccer camp, it’s about engaging in local communities.”
LD on retirement:
“I’m really happy in life. When I’m at the stadium, I won’t lie, I get that nervous energy that I want to play again, but other than that, I’m just happy in life. I got married, I’m traveling a lot, I see my family a lot, so life’s been really nice.”
LD on a career in coaching:
“I’m trying to figure that out. What I know is that I really enjoy younger age groups. I had the chance to coach the MLS Homegrown team last week – 16, 17, 18, up to 22 year olds – and I really like that age group. This week, I really enjoy coaching little kids, 9 and 10 year olds, all the way up to the kids that are aspiring college players. That I really like. The what or the where isn’t so important, it’s the why that is important. And the why feels good and so we can figure out the what later. So whether it’s a youth National team or an academy team or just continue to do our camps, those are all good options.”