As part of Cambridge United's commitment to developing players, Josh Coulson, Jordan Collins and Robbie Willmott are spending the month of June in Seattle.

As reported here last week, the lads are keeping to an off-season training schedule of weights and running and they are training with Seattle Sounders, where United major shareholders and directors Paul Barry and Adrian Hanauer are also involved.

But the main focus of their visit is a development program of innovative methods of cognitive processing development and skill building for athletic mental power performance.

In the first of our updates direct from the lads themselves, Jordan Collins tells us what they have been up to:

Our first week in Seattle has consisted mainly of starting the cognitive training, football training with the Sounders and getting lost almost everywhere we go.

The cognitive training has been very interesting as we are gradually improving our skills. We have been working on such things as reaction time, concentration span and awareness, which we are hoping will transfer over to the football when we get back.

We spend up to two hours each working individually with the two experts, during which time we get worked to the point of mental exhaustion (it doesn't take much!). We have yet to see Paul Barry have a go but we're sure he is itching to give it a try!

The standard of the football here is good but it took us all a while to become accustomed to their style of play, which is very slow and patient, and on Astro turf. There is far more build-up to the play over here because longer balls will simply skid through on the quick surface.

The training sessions are very organized and similar to back home although they play a lot of 11 v 11 games over here. But the practice games are good for helping us build our fitness and keeping our weight down.

Paul has looked after us amazingly really. The apartments have access to a gym for our weight training and a games room where our daily table tennis marathons are held! We also have our own car which we get lost in around four times a day.

We have been to a baseball match and to see Brazil vs Canada, and if we had arrived a day earlier we could have even trained with Brazil who were looking for some extra players for training sessions. It's a shame really, because Robinho really could have learnt a few things from us three.

We have also heard that there is a U's fan living right here in Seattle so we are keeping our eyes peeled for the amber and black stripes, although we haven't been venturing out a great deal because it has rained almost every day!

Jordan Collins

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