LSU sophomore midfielder Emma Fletcher can’t remember the last time she’s had a break.
After starting all 20 matches as a freshman in 2013, Fletcher immediately began preparing for the 2014 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup, where she represented Canada. 
Following Canada’s finish in the quarterfinals on Aug. 16, Fletcher was back in the Tigers’ lineup for the season opener against Troy six days later. 
There is no rest for players hoping to don both the colors of their national team and colleges.
“There just hasn’t been a time that I’ve had a break,” Fletcher said. “Usually I get at least two weeks of a break in somewhere. Sometimes a month, if I’m lucky. But this last year, every time I’ve had a break from [LSU] soccer, I’d go straight to the national team. Then I’d go straight from national camps back to here. There’s no off time.”
The offseason is meant to be a period in which athletes can rest their worn-down bodies and hone their skills. But getting the chance to compete internationally on the world’s biggest stage is a tough opportunity to pass up, no matter how exhausted a player may be. 
“For me, with national team stuff, it’s always a given that I’ll go,” Fletcher said. 
But Fletcher wasn’t the only member of the LSU soccer team to miss out on a restful offseason. 
Freshman defender Jordane Carvery joined Fletcher on the Canadian U-20 team this summer, and sophomore defender Megan Lee and freshman goalkeeper Lily Alfeld both represented New Zealand. 
After countless practice sessions, each of the four LSU players competed in four highly contested international matches over 11 days. All have followed that by playing in at least 13 of the Tigers’ 15 games this season. 
Entering the 2014 college season on the heels of the World Cup helped the four seamlessly transition into LSU’s lineup, but Lee said the seemingly never-ending cycle of soccer finally began taking its toll midway through the season. 
“It was kind of easy going straight into the games just because we were pretty much mentally prepared from the World Cup, and it carried over,” Lee said. “But a few games ago, we started to drop off a little bit, so we’re just trying to get back in the groove.” 
Junior midfielder Natalia Gomez-Junco, who competed with the Mexican U-20 teams in 2010 and 2012 while attending the University of Memphis, said the mental aspect of the World Cup is perhaps a tougher barrier than the physical wear. 
“You’re always stressed and under a lot of pressure,” Gomez-Junco said. “It’s a lot of emotions, both good and bad, because [the World Cup] is so intense. Sometimes it’s hard to get over the World Cup and just focus on college.” 
Aside from regaining focus, it’s important for the international players to become reacquainted with the higher level of physicality that defines college soccer. 
At the international level, the games are predicated more on tactics and strategy rather than out-muscling an opponent. But that sort of friendly competition doesn’t exist in the college ranks, and players aren’t hesitant to simply use brute force to accomplish their objectives.
“In [college soccer], you just do what you have to win,” Fletcher said. “Basically do whatever you can, no matter what.”
But not everyone’s experiences juggling both international and collegiate duty are the same, even those on the same team. 
“It’s been hard to adjust, or at least for me it has been,” Fletcher said. “I don’t know about other people. I feel like my other teammates have had really good college seasons, so it really depends person to person. That’s just how the experience has been for me. It’s been hard to kind of just go straight into it.”