Charge's Mitts happy to be in Philadelphia

Source: wusa.com

Heather Mitts is a 20-year-old defender for the Philadelphia Charge. She was acquired in the second round of the WUSA draft. The Univ. of Florida grad ranks as the Gators' all-time leader in games played (95), starts (94) and minutes played (7,547).

Q: What was it like being a soccer color analyst for Univ. of Florida games on Sunshine Network?

A: That's where I went to school and it was fun because I knew a lot of the players and I knew their styles. I had never done anything like that before. I think the hardest thing was that I had to do research on the other teams and once the game started I needed to know their names. As far as each game went, I think I got a little better every single game and I think I'm going to do it again next year. It was a lot of fun. I do have a long way to go, but it's something I might want to pursue when I'm done playing soccer.

Q: So you did this after you graduated?

I was done. Actually I was taking one class, but I graduated in December. So I would fly back down there for the games.

Q: Are you psyched to be playing in Philly?

I'm excited just to be playing period. I think that the city is awesome.

Q: Have you found an apartment?

Yeah. I'm living with Lorrie Fair. I met Lorrie when I came to camp. We haven't known each other for very long, but we've known of each other.

Q: Was it hard to find an apartment?

Really hard. Living in a city, everything's a lot more expensive. We went and we looked at a bunch of places and found one that was going to be best for us. Lorrie actually bought a house and it's being built right now. So Lorrie and I are going to move into the house in three months. So she's going to be our landlady. It'll be fun. I'm excited.

Q: Will you be looking to the older players for leadership?

Our team is actually very young compared to all the teams. We were talking the other day and we said that we feel like we're an older college team. I think that the players that we do have, especially the foreign players and the allocated players, we're going to look up to them and look for them to help us improve as players and maybe step it up a little. As far as my position is concerned, I'm going to look to try to get in on the attack a lot and just be a solid defender in the back.

Q: What's your favorite book?

I just finished reading The Cellestine Prophecy by James Redfield. It was interesting, really good fiction. But, I'd have to say my favorite would be Message in a Bottle. It's a romantic book. I read it in like two seconds. I've started reading more recently.

Q: What are some of your pre-game rituals?

I do like to listen to a certain type of music to get me pumped up before games. Usually it's more upbeat -- not rap, but hip hop, stuff that's more upbeat that gets you ready to go out there.

Q: Who do you listen to?

When I was at school, I'd always make something called the "Bus Mix" every year. We'd always listen to it before the games. I'm going to try to do it this year. I'll try to ask everyone what their one song is that they have to listen to before the game, then we'll compile it onto one CD and kind of listen to it. It's a little bit of everything, but it's for everyone.

Q: How do people react when you say you're a pro soccer player?

I don't tell many people. If it comes up, they think it's pretty awesome -- and it is. Being from Cincinnati you don't hear about many people coming from Cincinnati to play soccer. It's kind of a rare experience, so I think people are pretty excited for me.