After the announcement Monday afternoon of Team Canada’s roster for the Women’s World Cup, the players promptly embarked on a 10-day break.

They are scheduled to reconvene May 7 to begin final prep for the tournament.

And they’d better enjoy the time off, because after that there’s no telling when the grind will stop.

After the month-long World Cup, which concludes July 5, the Pan Am Games tournament kicks off. And while none of the World Cup team is obligated to head straight into Pan Am competition, all the players are eligible. Factor in a National Women’s Soccer League season that runs through September, and Canada’s top players face a summer itinerary that, even by the standards of a world-class footballer, is stacked with important competitions.

So while she plans to relax the next week and-a-half, national team midfielder Sophie Schmidt has also scheduled several workouts to keep her skills sharp, her fitness up and her focus narrow heading into World Cup practice.

“It’s an opportunity to get away and decompress before craziness starts to happen,” says Schmidt, a Winnipeg native with 131 national team caps.

For Schmidt and team Canada striker Adriana Leon, a 10-day pre-tournament vacation also included job-related obligations.

The pair spent Tuesday afternoon under a temporary dome sheltering a soccer pitch at the Toronto Sports Centre in East York, explaining to media members the virtues of the high-tech soccer shoes provided to them by Nike, which sponsors several team Canada players. Later that day they were scheduled to lead a group of hobbyists from a Nike-supported running club through a battery of speed drills and soccer-specific exercises.

Beyond that loomed the weekend, when Schmidt had planned a short trip to Florida and Leon hoped to celebrate her big brother’s birthday — responsibly.

“Celebration to us means something different than it does to regular folks,” Leon said. “In competition mode we’re not going out and having drinks. We have to keep a strict diet and make sure we’re hydrated all the time because we have a fitness program to follow while we’re at home.”

Leon says she hasn’t scaled back her training or playing regimen to accommodate what could be a busy summer. After national team duty she’ll return to the Chicago Red Stars of the NWSL, but when she’ll make the move still isn’t clear. FIFA rules compel clubs to release players for World Cup and Olympic competitions but not for the Pan Am Games.

But Leon, who has five goals in 31 games with the senior national team, says she can’t afford to think that far ahead.

“I’m not saving anything for post-World Cup,” she said. “I’m working towards that, just leaving it all out on the field in June.”

Schmidt, meanwhile, is still trying to decide her club football future.

She spent last season with the New Jersey-based Sky Blue FC of the NWSL, but her relationship with the club soured near the end of her tenure there and she’s currently a free agent.

That’s not a bad thing.

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“It has allowed me to fully focus on the World Cup,” she said.

Schmidt plans to resume her pro career post-World Cup but is still trying to decide between playing in the NWSL or pursuing opportunities in Germany.

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