Play hard. Play smart. Play together.

Outlined in large letters on the far right side of the field, these are the three sentiments driving the UF women's soccer team.

When senior defender Melanie Booth arrived at the team's practice facility Wednesday, she wore a familiar blue jersey with the customary No. 13 on the back.

The third sentence of the sign stands out like pink at a funeral, the three-time All-American hasn't played a minute for the Gators since 2005.

But Booth is back - at least for now.

She is simply making a pit stop on her way to China, where she will represent her home country, Canada, in the 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup.

Booth is set to return to the Gators lineup by at least the fourth weekend of the season.

Booth chose to redshirt the 2006 season due to her commitment to the Canadian National Team.

The decision to leave UF for a year was difficult, she said, but one she felt was necessary.

"It's always a tough decision to split time between two teams," she said. "But I believe I made the right decision. If I had stayed last season, it would have been too hard to come in and out of the season, because I would have still been playing with Canada. Now I can miss the first month, but when I'm back, I'll be back for good."

Booth said she kept in touch with her teammates throughout the year, using Internet tools such as Facebook and e-mail. This didn't save the senior from some playful criticism when she returned.

"They like to bother me about it," she laughed. "But they don't mean it, they're just joking around."

Booth gained valuable experience during her time away from UF, where she competed in 15 complete matches for the Canadian National Team.

Recently, at the 2007 Pan American Games, she helped her home country win a Bronze medal.

"Playing at the international level is something you can't get at a training session," she said. "It's a completely different caliber of play. You're competing against some of the best players in the world."

Booth believes her time in Canada will help her bring her collegiate game to the next level.

"I'm hoping that it will transfer over here," she said. "That would definitely be nice."

The style of play in international competition is very different from college, she said.

Aside from the tempo and quality of players, Canadian players also tend to be a little offensive.

"Canada likes to kick the ball," she said. "When I say kick the ball, I mean we don't like to pass. Here at Florida, it's more like tic-tac-toe soccer, you get to pass it around and be creative. It's pretty soccer."

Returning to UF will always be in the back of her mind, but for now Booth will look to fulfill one of her life-long goals.

"It's every young soccer player's dream to win a World Cup, play in the Olympics and then come back here and have the possibility of winning a national championship," she said. "I just think it would be awesome."