BATON ROUGE — LSU freshman Taryne Boudreau followed a successful rookie campaign on the soccer pitch by joining the full Canadian National Team in Oxnard, Calif., this past week for a training camp in preparation for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China.
Boudreau, who has been a member of the Under-20 Canadian National Team for the last two years, was one of 16 players in attendance and one of five players from the U-20 level or below.
The camp kicked off Dec. 3 on the campus of Oxnard College and is scheduled to run through Wednesday. Boudreau returned to Baton Rouge on Sunday in order to prepare for finals week at LSU as the fall semester comes to an end on Saturday.
“I had a great time training with the national team and it was a real learning experience for me,” Boudreau said. “These are players that I’ve looked up to for so long, and it was an honor for me to be invited to train alongside them. I was able to experience how they train day in and day out, and that’s something that will help me be a better player in the future.
“These players have been through everything and have represented our country with pride. It’s a goal of mine to one day compete internationally with the team, and I will if I keep working hard.”
Boudreau capped a successful freshman season by being named to the SEC All-Freshman Team and earning a first-team All-Louisiana selection from the Louisiana Sports Writers Association. She scored three goals and recorded seven assists for 13 points in 2007.
While Canada is preparing to compete in the 2008 Olympic Games this summer, Boudreau is preparing to represent her country in the qualifying stages for the 2008 U-20 Women’s World Cup in May. Chile will play host to the U-20 Women’s World Cup beginning Nov. 20, 2008, as the tournament is scheduled to run through Dec. 7.