UCLA women's soccer team manager Sophie Zollman will document life on the road with the 2016 Bruins with regular blog posts throughout the season.

Hi, Bruin soccer fans! My name is Sophie Zollman, and I'm a second-year and one of the student managers for the women's soccer team. This season throughout a series of blog posts, I will be giving you all an inside look at what happens when the team is on the road.

Road trips haven't started quite yet, but the team has been very busy after completing one full week of training. The week started off with a photo shoot, where the girls were treated to a special visit by a glam squad who styled their hair and makeup before they got the chance to pose for a multitude of different photos. For one, the players had to do their best model strut for the photographer, and another involved holding up a giant American flag like a cape. It was a blast and a really fun way to start off the year!

Another awesome experience from week one was attending the Dodgers-Phillies game, thanks to Jacey's brother, Joc Pederson, who plays for the Dodgers. We all got to go out onto the field to watch batting practice and interact with the players. Dave Roberts, the current Dodgers general manager, played baseball at UCLA, so it was really cool to hear his stories about living on the hill and being a Bruin. Also, Maki Umehara was able to have the opportunity to talk to one of her favorite baseball players, Kenta Maeda, who is a huge baseball star in Japan.

Of course, the team has also been getting down to business on the pitch with a week full of double days. Training got off to a start on Aug. 1 with the beep test, which was streamed live on Facebook! One of the training highlights from week one was a 2-versus-2 tournament where the teams looked to win as many games as possible and make it to the championship, played on a field with full-sized goals and both keepers. Nothing like some friendly competition to help the team bond in the first week!

We are all so excited for the season to start, and I can't wait to be able to bring the road to all of you with our first trip to San Diego State next week!

- Sophie