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Arin Gilliland has played soccer in lots of different places and for lots of different teams. But this week, she’s experiencing a couple of firsts. Gilliland is in Spain, competing with the U18 U.S. National team.

How does a soccer player in Kentucky end up playing with the best in the country in Europe? Well, for Gilliland, the story starts, of all places, in Mississippi.

Taking part in a regional ODP (Olympic Development Program) event there, Gilliland came to the attention of representatives from the national team. She was invited to take part in a training program in California. There, she said, she experienced some of the most intense soccer training of her already impressive career.

“I never played soccer that was that hard in my entire life,” Gilliland said. “We did this fitness test, and I didn’t realize that I was as out of shape as I was.”

This coming from a player on a high school team, West Jessamine, which earned notoriety for its strong conditioning, thanks to Coach Kevin Wright’s brick-carrying training regime. The exhausted Gilliland didn’t mind the arduous physical effort, though.

“I loved every second of it,” she said.

Gilliland and her teammates on the U18 team were no slouches. They defeated the U23 team in a friendly during her stay in California. They also tied a semipro team. Their only loss came at the hands of the U16 team — the U16 boys team, that is.

After the training program was completed, Gilliland was invited to join the team for a trip to Spain, where it will compete against national teams from across Europe. The squad left Friday and returns this weekend.

For Kentucky’s top recruit and a standout player in what is arguably the state’s toughest high school district, the experience wasn’t without its lessons.

“You have to play quick,” she said. “You can’t hold the ball at all or you’re going to get stripped. It’s a completely different level of soccer.”

The invitation to join the national team was a bit of surprise for Gilliland.

“Whenever I was growing up, it was like, ‘Oh, it’s the national team; I’m never going to make it,’ but when you finally make it, it’s just — you don’t really know what to do, but you want to stay there,” she said. “You don’t want to lose your spot.”

And for others looking for their shot at making the national team, Gilliland has advice.

“People don’t need to stop trying,” she said. “Say you don’t make the team when you’re younger and you go to college and keep improving, (scouts) can see you in a college game and decide they want to pull you up.”

Homework abroad?

For Gilliland and her teammates, playing soccer in Europe doesn’t just mean a new experienc;, it also means they’ll be missing school.

Most of those days are merely absent days, and some of the work will have to be made up — especially work that must be done in the classrom (chemistry labs, computer labs). The rest has to be taken to Spain.

“I take a lot of homework with me,” she said. “We have a study hall where we’re required to work on homework.”

The trip isn’t without its problems, but it’s a worthwhile endeavor.

“Everyone’s doing the same thing,” she said. “They’re stressing out about their homework, but it’s like an opportunity you don’t want to pass up, even if you have to miss school.”

Besides the homework, traveling and soccer, Gilliland looked forward to visiting Spain.

“It’s going to be warm where we are, so we get to wear shots and T-shirts,” she said. “I”m excited to get away from Kentucky. It’s freezing and snowing here. I’m excited to see Spain because my Grandma told me it was so pretty.”

And that’s not the only thing she’s looking forward to seeing.

“I hear the guys in Spain are very attractive,” she quipped.

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