in Basking Ridge, the teenager from Warren already had to leave for an exclusive camp that promised to keep her occupied through August.
Even that moment was unique for Phair. She was in Paja, South Korea, at the country’s training facility when she celebrated that milestone birthday on June 29. Her teammates, mostly professional players in their late 20s or early 30s, made her a strawberry cake and sang Happy Birthday — but, given the birthday girl, they added a fitting twist.
Phair’s father, Shane, is a New Hampshire native who worked as an English teacher in Anyang, South Korea, soon after completing his undergraduate degree at Michigan State. That’s where he was introduced to Hye Young, who owned a restaurant with her twin sister, in 2005. The couple married and, just a month after the couple welcomed Casey into the world, they decided to move to the United States to start their lives as a family.
That team was Players Development Academy, which is widely regarded as one of the top club programs in the country. PDA has developed a long list of professional and college soccer stars, including former World Cup stars Tobin Heath and Heather O’Reilly and current U.S. goaltenderFrom the start, Phair had the work ethic that reminded the PDA coaches of the best players to come through New Jersey’s fields.
They invited her to a tryout camp for the senior team, and when she made the cut as one of the final 23 players, South Korea head coach Colin Bell made it clear she was “not going as a passenger but as a valuable member of the squad and has every chance of getting into the team.” She became the first mixed-race athlete, male or female, to be named to a World Cup roster for South Korea.