Brian Fields is off on his journey heading west out of his home state. Fields, a running back out of New Castle, Del., will head to Kalamazoo, Mich., later this summer to play for Western Michigan University, but first he's making a three-week pit stop in Canton, Ohio.
While in Ohio, he will play with 44 other incoming college freshmen on USA Football's Junior National Team, which is competing in the Junior World Championship. Competition in the JWC will begin later this month, but Team USA has already gathered to begin practicing.
"I'm very excited to compete with the best athletes in the country," Fields said. "I'm from a small state and this is the big time."
Coming from a small state, playing for a national team is a memory Fields isn't taking for granted. Just wearing "USA" on the side of his helmet and on his chest is a big deal.
"As soon as I got here, I just started taking a lot of pictures," he said.
Fields is also anticipating lining up across from teams from other countries, as he will in the JWC.
"It will be very interesting to play against the other teams," Fields said. "Football is usually considered our sport, so it will be interesting to see what they can do."
The 45 players and 10 coaches on Team USA arrived in Canton over the weekend and got to work immediately with team meetings and two-a-day practices. With most of the players and coaches unfamiliar with each other, hard work has helped them to get to know each other.
Fields said, "It takes awhile, but we all get along really well so far. We all have one common goal."
Everyone in Team USA's training camp understands that they are there to work together and represent the United States.
Fields is one of five backs who may run the ball for Team USA, and all are busy learning the new offensive scheme designed by offensive coordinator Gary Swenson and runnings backs coach Tom Bainter. It's not just that the players have to learn the new scheme, but the coaches must also teach it, which takes time.
"It will be good," Fields said of the offensive scheme. "I'm new to it, so I'm working on it. All of the coaches have been patient with all of us and are very positive."
This is a huge stage for a running back from Delaware to perform on, but it's just one stop along the way for Fields.
