The US Women's team have a pretty hectic schedule at the Women's World Cup. With training, gym sessions, recovery sessions, travelling, press obligations and the games themselves, the players have very little downtime. But when the team is afforded a precious free hour or two, there only seems to be one thing on their mind: coffee.
"There's just about enough downtime to get some cups of coffee but besides that all our focus on the tournament," says Kristie Mewis in a recent press conference, just a few days after posting a photo on Instagram which had the phrase 'I love you' printed into the foam of her morning latte. Coincidence? I think not.
Coffee is an obsession amongst these players, so much so that it's even become a topic of conversation in press conferences. "Can you explain to us a little bit about that coffee culture and that machine you have to make them in the hotel?" asks one journalist to veteran Crystal Dunn a few days into the tournament.
"Sometimes I think it's a sickness," she replies in a jokey tone. "We love it, it's like a splash of joy every morning. "I mean, Kristie Mewis is going crazy with it. I'm like, how many pictures do we have? But I mean yeah, it's like a machine that I feel like we all need to buy. But it's amazing, the little things make the biggest difference."
Dunn is referring to a coffee machine that has been provided by the federation and Nike that allows the players to print photos into the foamy part of the hot drink. It's been a major hit amongst the players (and their followers on social media) who can't get enough of the coffee content.
"It's actually something so amazing... it's just the little things, you know?" continues defender Dunn. "I think everyone knows that the stakes are really high now and just finding those little things that you can just wake up to and be excited about just calms the nerves a bit. It's great! "
Sofia Huerta is another player enthused by the good coffee vibes."The coffee culture is up there for sure. We all enjoy getting coffee together and that's a way to be social with one another other than just training together. So, it definitely brings us together," says defender Huerta, even though she hasn't actually used the machine yet- she prefers an iced vanilla Latte and unfortunately this special gadget only does hot coffee.
The bigger picture
Small details like this coffee machine are all part of increased effort on behalf of the US Soccer Federation to create a proper basecamp for the players, somewhere they can call 'home' for the duration of the tournament. As well as the coffee, the team has been provided not just with outstanding facilities and structured routines, but also little home comforts tailored to each player. The idea is to make everyone feel comfortable as comfortable as possible and Alex Morgan put it, not like a "travelling circus".
"I love having a base camp. We were actually just talking about how great it is," explains Morgan in a recent press conference. It a luxury the team didn't have in previous tournaments. "Just being at one hotel, kind of taking over the entire hotel and having all the recovery tools available... Not only do we have everything we need at the hotel but also the training field too. It has modular units, a locker room, a gym that they put up that we can use every day... I think it just makes us feel like we have a daily routine and less like a travelling circus and that's a good thing," concludes the striker.
In many ways, such a simple thing like coffee has become a powerful symbol of change and the progress that's been made in US women's soccer. The team now has a basecamp... and the heart of its identity is their love of the caffeinated drink.