Garrison employee trains for international football tournament

By Mr. Mark Heeter (IMCOM)June 19, 2012

Training for international football tournament
(Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

KAISERSLAUTERN, Germany -- Torrance Brown swiftly moves from one task to the next in the Kleber Gym, first pumping weights to work out his leg muscles, then moving to the gym floor for some serpentine shuffling, followed by receiving and pattern drills.

This is the hardest part, according to Brown: the training.

"Once you show up for training camp, it's not a thing where you're doing conditioning there. You have to go there already being conditioned. You go there and you hit the ground running and you hit the ground running hard," he said.

Training camp for Brown is mid-July in Stuttgart, where he will join approximately three dozen teammates, plus coaches, with the Team USA Eagles, a club football organization that carries football to countries around the world.

Immediately following camp, the team will travel to Rome, where they will play against teams from Italy, Spain and Denmark, countries where interest in football is rapidly growing, according to Brown.

The club "was founded to promote the development of the sport of American Football within the United States as well as with our friends who play the sport internationally within their respective countries," according to the team's website.

For Brown, a contract specialist with the U.S. Army Garrison Kaiserslautern, playing for the team -- which he joined in 2005 -- is about doing something he loves for his country.

"We're a group of guys that gets together once or twice a year. We're doing this not for ourselves, but for our country. I was a Soldier for my country. Now I get to represent my country doing something that I love," he said.

Related Links:

Official U.S. Army Garrison Kaiserslautern Facebook Site

U.S. Army Garrison Kaiserslautern Flickr photos

U.S. Army Garrison Kaiserslautern on YouTube