Athletes usually follow a pre-game ritual. But Shelby Murphy’s ritual might be more rigorous than most. Murphy’s routine involves leaving her Point Loma home, driving to Los Angeles and flying 5,209 miles to Dublin, Ireland, where she stars on that country’s Under-19 women’s team. This week, she will make her debut as the newest member of Ireland’s national women’s team. To boot, the cheerful teen recently celebrated her 18th birthday. The daughter of John and Irma Murphy of Point Loma and a senior at Point Loma High School (PLHS), Shelby carries a 3.33 grade-point average, despite her extended trips overseas. She will, however, graduate with her class in June and notes, “all of my teachers have been so cool and flexible.” Her father is the athletic director and women’s soccer coach at PLHS. Shelby helped power the Pointers to a CIF Division II championship last year — the first CIF title for the school in many years, according to school officials.  She was named First Team All-CIF and CIF Division II Player of the Year. After boarding an Aer Lingus flight yesterday Feb. 24, today marks Murphy’s first appearance with the Irish national team. When she trots onto the Dublin pitch as a central midfielder in a friendly match against France, she will be the newest, youngest and — at 5 feet, 3 inches tall — likely the shortest member of her country’s side. “They will probably cap me after (today’s) game,” Murphy predicted. After being “capped,” she will never be able to play internationally for any other country. Players earn an additional cap for every international match to indicate their experience. But her ascent to international soccer didn’t come without years of preparation, practice, persistence and a large dose of natural talent. “My older sister Maegan was a goalkeeper,” Murphy said, “and I started by kicking balls barefoot to her in our backyard when I was four.” Many years of involvement followed with various Southern California club teams and Olympic development squads. Murphy, with her attacking style, excelled in every one. Her involvement with Ireland came about when she expressed her interest in international soccer while talking to Greg Ryan, women’s soccer coach at the University of Michigan. Ryan tossed out the names of two countries, but Murphy shook her head. When Ryan uttered “Ireland?” Murphy’s face lit up and she answered with a resounding “Yes!” Shelby’s family traces its Irish heritage through her father’s ancestry, and she soon obtained Irish citizenship and an Ireland passport. Her introduction to the Ireland Under-19 team, however, was anything but jolly. Accompanied on that first trip by her parents, Murphy vividly remembers stepping into the team locker room for the first time. She was greeted by the icy stares and dead silence of her new teammates. “I got no respect,” Murphy said, “because I might be taking someone else’s spot.” Soon, in her first Under-19 match, Murphy entered in the second half as a substitute. “After 15 or 20 minutes on the field, I scored my first goal,” Murphy recalled, and everything changed. “Now, they are like my second family.” Murphy said further bonding also came from the fact “we are constantly together.” “[We] practice, eat, rest and sleep — that’s all we do,” she said with a smile. But Murphy notes she must use some of her “down time” to complete schoolwork and e-mail it back to PLHS staff members. On her second trip to Ireland, Murphy traveled by herself and laughs when remembering getting off the plane at 4 a.m. only to find her bags missing after a long wait at a luggage carousel. When she went to Aer Lingus personnel to report her problem, she glanced up to see a large sign reading “Limerick.” She turned, in a panic, and sprinted back to the gate just as the aircraft’s door was being shut for the flight’s next leg — to her destination of Dublin. And as for the team’s living quarters? “They put us in a beautiful five-star hotel in Dublin with the best food,” and first-class accommodations when on the road, she said. Murphy said team practices are intense. “We play in the rain a lot. I had to get used to the weather and the cold,” Murphy said. “Whenever you step on the field, you have to be ready for anything that comes at you, so we are expected to practice like in a match.” That means enduring painful collisions, jarring tackles and stinging head balls. “And you are expected to be fit (to run),” Murphy said, “or you don’t play.” Whether playing in Dublin or throughout Europe, Murphy and her chums enjoy celebrity status on the soccer-obsessed continent. More goals followed since that first one made for the Irish squad by the aggressive San Diego star. In fact, in a four-team tournament, the Under-19 team played in on her last trip, Murphy scored four goals, including two against Croatia. “That might not sound like a lot,” Murphy said, “but it was the highest by any player in the tournament and nobody else scored in every match.” Murphy helped her Irish team finish the tourney undefeated and the squad is now ranked No. 6 in Europe. Murphy finds herself currently holding an invitation to move up to the country’s highest women’s team. Her excitement is fueled by opportunities that could include a women’s World Cup and Olympic appearances. Some team members have worn the Irish green for a decade or more, leaving Murphy to once again prove herself against the country’s best, “but the challenge is good for me,” she says. After graduation from PLHS, Murphy will enter the University of Michigan to play for Ryan on a full athletic scholarship. She plans to continue building her cap total in Ireland. Eventually, she hopes to play professionally, either in the U.S. or in Europe. For Murphy, the sky might serve an important purpose — both as a pathway for her frequent travel and for the upper limit of this remarkable 18-year-old soccer star’s emerging career.