KANSAS CITY, KAN.—It has been a year of ups and downs for Columbus Crew midfielder Wil Trapp. He earned his first U.S. men's national team callup and cap in Janurary but suffered a concussion on April 8, focing him away from the game for nearly three months.

Since his return in July, however, Trapp has helped Columbus Crew SC move to within striking distance of Major League Soccer's best overall record. And on Thursday he was named captain of the United States U-23 team as it seeks to qualify for the 2016 Olympics.

The Gahanna, Ohio, native is convinced that the trials and tribulations he has faced this year will benefit him in the long run.

“A whirlwind is probably the best way to describe it,” Trapp told American Soccer Now. “My biggest improvements have been the mentality of it. Psychologically—just dealing with the ups and downs of dealing with a season of injuries and the excitement of a first cap. That’s where I’ve been making my biggest strides and I look forward to moving forward.”

Trapp, 22, learned he was going to wear the armband for the U-23 team a few hours before the opening game against Canada. Head coach Andi Herzog made the announcement and Trapp rewarded his coach with a nice display of soccer in the 3-1 win. He made one of the best plays of the game in the second half when he assisted on Jordan Morris’ second goal with a terrific looping pass over the defense.

“I wouldn’t say it was surprising but I wouldn’t say I expected it either,” Trapp said of being named captain. “It’s a huge honor. Anytime you’re named captain, guys are going to look at you as a leader for sure. But we have a lot of good guys on this squad who lead by example or lead in their own way. So for myself, I don’t really do anything myself that I wouldn’t already do.

"That’s kind what Andi sees in me and kind of why he gave me the captaincy in the first place. So you just go about your business as usual.”

For Herzog, he did not have as much time with Trapp this year as he would have liked but has been very impressed with Trapp’s ability to make the necessary adjustments as the team took shape.

 “With him it was an advantage because he was already part of the men’s national team in the January camp,” Herzog said. “He embraced me. He was one of the youngest players but his personality and his skill—I already knew he was a very good player. Unfortunately most of the time at the beginning of the season he was injured so he wasn’t part of our Olympic team. He played just one game last time against England.

"He did very well and he’s one of my key players in this group, of course.”

There are particular challenges associated with being captain of this team. The U.S. U-23 team is very young and several of team’s players were recently added to the team after June’s U-20 World Cup. Since that time, there was only one training camp in September to integrate these players into the squad.

Trapp is impressed with how the youngsters have acquitted themselves—particularly U-20 captain Emerson Hyndman and the central defense tandem of Cameron Carter-Vickers and Matt Miazga.

“The assimilation of that U-20 group into this team has been fantastic,” Trapp said. “They’re very, very impressive and you can see their confidence coming off a great World Cup. A guy like Emerson Hyndman, Matt Miazga, or Cameron Carter-Vickers just to name a few—those guys are very impressive. If I am talking about leaders, those are just a few I am looking at.”

Hyndman appreciates the help that Trapp has provided.

“With Wil, you can tell he's a great player,” Hyndman said. “I knew that from day one working with him in Manchester [in September]. He has a great leadership mentality. He really motivates everyone and he's a professional off the pitch as well. He helps me in terms of his experiences.

"He's a real force on our team.”

The U.S. won its first match of the Olympic qualifying tournament on Thursday, but Canada outpossessed the Yanks and the American midfield struggled at times.

Trapp is not too concerned about the midfield, adding that the players are still getting used to one another. 

“We look at it from a positive context in terms of capitalizing and being effective in the way we played,” Trapp said. “Our two front men were running well and playing well. We were effective in being clinical in front of the goal. Defensively we were pretty organized. Our centerbacks did a great job. In possession we could have been a little clearner but we’re still a newer squad getting used to each other. Canada was organized in the way they pressed. It’s never easy to play through that pressure with a newer group but we were extremely effective in our game plan and in our execution.”

“I think the chemistry is great,” he continued. “We have a lot of guys who are confident on the ball, who move well, and who want the ball—that’s a huge thing in these games. I think it’s just fine-tuning where to be in certain moments. That will fix most of our problems.”

So while 2015 had its rough moments, Trapp is eyeing a stellar finish to the year with the realistic goals of helping the United States return to the Olympics for the first time since 2008 and possibly winning the MLS Cup and the Supporters' Shied with Columbus.

As the captain and the face of the potential Olympic team, that could lead to an even better 2016.

“Every kid in the U.S. looks at the Olympics as a huge deal because it’s the world coming together for all athletics,” Trapp said. “It’s a dream for all of us on this team.”