Photo By Petty Officer 2nd Class Camille Miller | FORT BLISS, Texas - Navy Lt. Junior Grade Kahra Kelty of San Diego, Calif. competed...... read more read more
FORT BLISS, Texas – Navy Lt. Junior Grade Kahra Kelty played Division I soccer through all four years at the United States Naval Academy in Maryland. She’s happy to have found an opportunity to continue playing competitive soccer while remaining on active duty.
Her background as a naval officer and soccer player well-qualified her to join the most elite military soccer players in the world as they clashed at Fort Bliss June 22-July 3 at the 2018 Conseil International du Sport Militaire (CISM) World Military Women’s Football Championship.
Teams from Bahrain, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Netherlands, South Korea, and the United States gathered to compete at the 11th iteration of the tournament to earn the title of best female football players in the world.
Kelty heard about the CISM program from a coach at the Naval Academy and she also had family members play in the program.
“I had a little bit of an idea of what to expect because my sister, Caprice, played for the team back in 2015,” she said.
The U.S. Women’s CISM team completed a series of tryouts over a two-week camp where the top 21 best players were chosen from all service branches across the country. Kelty is one of the five Navy players on the team USA as most players are Air Force members.
Kelty talked about the rigorous training in El Paso, Texas.
“We played at 6 a.m., 10 a.m. and then 7 p.m. everyday in the El Paso heat. It was tiring but I loved every minute of playing soccer,” she said.
CISM sports events and other military sporting programs are a unique place where military leadership skills meet teamwork and unity on the playing field.
Kelty spoke about how her military training applies to her soccer training.
“Definitely in soccer you have to learn to direct and communicate and also, just be loud and know what to say at the right time,” she said.
Kelty feels that this experience will keep her going strong with both her military career and her love of soccer. She is glad that she has found a way to continue playing soccer while still serving her country.
At the conclusion of the CISM World Championship, she will return to her duty station in San Diego, as the officer in charge of her ship’s defensive weapons. She has served as an officer in the Navy for the past three years.
The CISM sports program is the culmination of each branch of services’ sports and fitness program. Service members compete at unit level intramurals and then advance to the all service level where they can compete in national and international competitions.
| Date Taken: | 06.28.2018 |
| Date Posted: | 07.05.2018 23:00 |
| Story ID: | 282710 |
| Location: | FORT BLISS, TX, US |
| Web Views: | 164 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
This work, Naval Officer Wants to Stay in the Game, by PO2 Camille Miller, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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