Aaron Hohlbein has earned his fair share of accolades in his first year on the University of Wisconsin campus. After starting 21 of the team’s 22 games, the first-year defender was named second-team All-Big Ten and was chosen for the first ever Big Ten All-Freshman team. His play in the conference tournament also garnered his inclusion to the Big Ten Conference Men’s Soccer Championship all-tournament team. In non-conference play, he earned a spot on the Rocky Rococo-Wisconsin Soccer Classic all-tournament team.
Hohlbein’s biggest honor, however, came when he was invited to take part in the second training camp for the United States Under-20 Men’s National Team. Hohlbein was one of 22 players vying for a spot on the US’s U-20 entry in the 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship, to be played in the Netherlands.
“When I got the news, I was real excited,” Hohlbein said. “Then, all of a sudden I got nervous right away after I got the call. I was just super excited about the opportunity to go down there.”
Hohlbein attended a training camp led by U-20 head coach Thomas Rongen at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla., Feb. 20-26.
“It was great,” Hohlbein said. “The players down there were superb, and the coaches were awesome. The facilities were nice. Everything was just great.”
In addition to training, the U-20 team played three exhibition games against Major League Soccer teams, finishing with a 0-2-1 record. The U-20s tied the Columbus Crew 2-2 Feb. 22, fell to the Colorado Rapids 6-1 Feb. 24, then dropped a 1-0 match to the Crew on the 26th. Hohlbein saw a total of 113 minutes of action in the three contests, starting against Colorado and coming off the bench in the two matchups with Columbus.
“It taught me a lot,” he said of lining up against the professionals. “Those guys are so quick, so good with the ball. Sometimes you watch on TV and you don’t think they’re that good, but when you play against them on the field, it’s unbelievable.”
While he was fairly pleased with his play throughout the week, Hohlbein still sees room for improvement.
“I thought I played pretty decent,” he said. “I didn’t play as well as I hoped to, but I was solid, so it was alright.”
For head coach Jeff Rohrman and the 2003 Badgers, Hohlbein played more than decently, becoming a fixture in the Wisconsin backline and tallying two goals, including the game-winner in UW’s 1-0 win at Penn State Oct. 5. A native of Middleton, Wis., Hohlbein hopes to carry what he picked up with the U-20 squad with him when he returns to the field in Madison.
“It gave me a lot of experience,” he said. “Hopefully I can bring some of what I learned down there back to the team, and we can just work on some of those things and get ready for the season.”
While the training camp may have brought Hohlbein some national notoriety, his inclusion in the U-20 program could also bring attention to the UW men’s soccer program.
“I hope so,” Hohlbein said of the possibility. “I hope we get more attention here at Wisconsin. I think we deserve it. Hopefully in the next couple of years we will get it.”
The invitees to the next training camp, held April 18-25, will be announced in early to mid-April. Whether Hohlbein is invited to participate will not necessarily impact his chances of making the final roster, as Rongen is trying to get a look at as many players as he can before making his final choices. Hohlbein believes he currently has a decent shot at making the cut.
“I think I kind of stand right in the middle,” he said. “I have a lot of work to do to improve my chances of being selected.”
However, he admits he is slightly nervous over his roster prospects.
“[I am] a little bit [nervous],” he said. “I just hope I can do well enough where I get selected to go play in the world championship.”
Rongen will not settle on his final roster until around a month before the World Youth Championship qualifying tournament, which takes place in February and March of 2005.
“That would be amazing. It would be like a dream,” Hohlbein said of a possible selection. “I mean, playing in a World Cup, [against] other countries’ national teams, representing our country would be awesome.”
