Rose Lavelle is ready to lead the USWNT at the Women's World Cup: 'I've had a lot of people to learn from'

Lavelle is racing for fitness to be ready for the Women's World Cup opener on July 21 against Vietnam

The U.S. women's national team is in California going through final preparations ahead of the 2023 Women's World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. The tournament is just weeks away and all eyes will be on the reigning World Cup champions as the USWNT begin the journey to a fifth star and third consecutive title. Midfielder Rose Lavelle will be there, returning for her second tournament, rushing to return to fitness after not having played since a USWNT friendly vs. Ireland on April 8. But, if the team has a successful run they'll do it with a roster mixed with returning veterans and several young players debuting and she'll be an important part of that mix.

Lavelle sat down with CBS Sports to discuss her preparation for her second World Cup tournament, how her routines for this competition are different from her build up to 2019, and her expectations. She is the team's dynamic attacking midfielder, who can typically impact games with her skill and agility on the ball. She has exceptional technicality, dribbling ability, and the ability to create scoring opportunities. But, since she also hasn't played a competitive game since mid-April. there are significant questions about how well she'll be able to bring all that to the field in Australia and New Zealand.

"Nothing is a given. This World Cup is gonna be the hardest World Cup to win. I think every team is getting so much better, and it's great. There are more teams and there's so much more investment in the game. It makes winning it that much harder."

Lavelle learns about leadership

Nine players are returning from the 2019 World Cup roster, with Lindsey Horan, Crystal Dunn, and Emily Sonnett included in a second consecutive competition with the USWNT; they'll also be relied upon for their experiences. For Lavelle, the experience she's gained already will be invaluable in her second go around.

She recalls not initially taking advice from established stars like Alex Morgan and Megan Rapinoe. Back in 2019, they instructed the then first-time World Cup players about staying in the hotel on game days. Instead, when in Reims, she and Horan tried leaving the hotel for a coffee run and they got swarmed by fans instead. 

"We have the best fans in the world, but I feel like that was like the first glimpse of like 'oh, we had no idea what to expect' at a World Cup," she explained. 

"Leadership has definitely been something we've talked about. I think I've been lucky in having the veteran players that I've gotten to kind of grow into this team with. I feel like I've had a lot of like really great examples to learn from and a lot of different styles of leadership too, I would say. For me, being a vocal leader, I would say, doesn't really come naturally to me, so it's definitely something as one of the more experienced players on the team I think I kind of have to push myself out of my comfort zone a little to be more of a leader."

When the USWNT gets to the Southern Hemisphere, there will be 14 players on the roster who will experience a World Cup tournament for the first time. The most ever for the U.S. since the program began nearly four decades ago. The team will have veterans to lean on, but they will be without team captain Becky Sauerbrunn who is dealing with a foot injury. Lavelle foreshadowed her development to find her own unique leadership style. 

"I have had a lot of people to learn from, having conversations around it. Even kind of talking with my sports psych about it, it's definitely something I'm aware of. I think it's good for me, and others at my age. It's important that we find our voice, because we're not always going to have Becky and Pinoe to kind of lean on. They've really helped kind of transition us into this role. So, it's been good getting out of my comfort zone to grow into that role.

They have two different leadership styles. And I think that's kind of helped teach me that I'm not going to be a 'Pinoe' and I might not be a 'Becky'. I think everybody has their own leadership styles and I don't have to try to mimic someone else's. I just have to be comfortable in myself, and what I think my knowledge and experience can bring to the team."

Lavelle's health remains a big question

Lavelle's presence in head coach Andonovski's lineups is near irreplaceable at times, especially during long stretches of games where the team has struggled to unlock organized defensive shapes. If she's healthy her leadership off the field will be mirrored by her crucial contributions on it. But, the question of health is looming.

Without the recent minutes, Lavelle's presence on the roster has come with some questions about her readiness for the tournament. Though she has been in training with her NWSL club team OL Reign and said on USWNT media day that trainers and medical staff were being "cautious and smart" about her timeline, but that she hates "having to be patient with these things, but, obviously, it's for the best." 

Part of her confidence is connected to the work she's been doing behind the scenes. The build up to this World Cup includes a different trainer, as she now works with Dak Notestine -- who also trains Joe Burrow of the Cincinnati Bengals -- and the duo are proud Ohioans. Over the last few years, they've been working toward her second tournament.

"I was looking for somebody that I could work with in my offseason. Like, I gotta get these puppies strong, get them strong," she joked while flexing her arms. 

But working with a soccer player is different from a pro-NFL quarterback, and Notsteine's sessions with Lavelle not only include strength conditioning and stretches before training, but daily muscle and ligament activation, including stretches that warm up sensory tissues. Routines ultimately target the knee, but begins with the ankles, before moving to the upper thighs and hips. 

The 28-year-old midfielder is in the prime of her career, and has dealt with hamstring injuries in the past, but has incorporated different recovery strategies in her second World Cup preparations. Some of her go-to recovery activities now include pilates, meditation, therapy, and even ICY HOT Pro from time to time as she's a brand ambassador. Though there are some things that never change for an athlete, and for Lavelle that's always repping her Midwest roots, and she believes being from the area has contributed to how she navigates pro soccer.

"I like talking about the Midwest always, it's my preferential region in the world. I don't know. I always think it's kind of kept me maybe like a little low-key," the Cincinnati native said.

"I think Midwest people are just like, the best. This is gonna sound bad, but it's not meant to sound bad, they're just the most regular and average in the best way possible. So, I like to think that it's kind of like kept me chill in this crazy, wild, life that I get to live. It's kept me really grounded. I don't really think I take myself too seriously, which maybe at times I should take myself more seriously, but I think it's helped me not lose myself or get too big a head."

Lavelle is so Midwest that during a post-Pilates session she goes for an iced coffee afterward, and orders what she refers to as "the typical iced vanilla latte," but her combo breaker is going for whole milk in her beverage instead of an alternative milk option. "Gimme that whole cow," she emphasizes while in line waiting for the coffee order.

It's the attention to small details that Lavelle is making a point to remember in her second go-round at World Cup. It's how she wants to try and be an example for other teammates experiencing the tournament for the first time. 

The global audience will have to wait a little longer to see how impactful she can be in this tournament. There is likely a gradual plan to work her minutes back up and the group has a send-off match against Wales on July 9 in San Jose, California before heading to New Zealand for their tournament group stage. Though Lavelle feels ready she has even more confidence with the teammates around her.

"This is gonna sound like a cliche answer but there's so many good players all around. I kind of laugh when I see sometimes who we even have on the bench. It's such a kind of empowering feeling to be like, 'Okay, whoever goes down. We have such amazing options and such amazing players that have always risen to the occasion' And it's just like, it's sick, honestly. I even look at Alyssa [Thompson] and she's been crushing it, and she's 18, and she's sick. We just have so many players like that."

The USWNT was drawn into Group E and will play the entirety of the group stage in New Zealand. They will face Vietnam on July 21 in Auckland, then compete against the Netherlands, and close out group play against Portugal.