Team Picture

Soccer Philosophy, Part 1

Ladies,
great job at the tournament this weekend! Our "preseason" is over. I will reward your third place finish this weekend with an extra scoop of ice cream after the parents game on March 25th.

And to start things off right, here's some soccer philosophy which will guide you through your soccer playing life...

1. During a soccer game you will make dozens of errors, some small, some big. Don't worry about them, just fix them.

2. There is no such thing as an "offensive" player or a "defensive" player. Everybody plays offense and defense. A goalkeeper with the ball is playing offense. A forward who loses the ball in the opponents end is the first defender.

3. A goalkeeper is only as good as the 10 players in front of her.

4. A goalscorer is finishing the work of the other ten players behind her.

Spring Break Homework

Ladies,
now that Spring break is here and we'll have fewer practices for the time being, I'm sure you'll be suffering soccer withdrawal at the same time you'll miss school. To prevent this - and to supply you a way you can keep in soccer shape - here are a few things you can do to keep your soccer fitness up. By the way, you can work on this "extra credit" during the main part of the season as well.

FITNESS

1. Running - as I told you before, soccer running is just about all sprints - there is no jogging involved. Therefore, you can increase your soccer running fitness by doing "fartleks." This is when you sprint at regular intervals when you are on a run. For instance, try to run at a jog for 20 minutes. Every five minutes, increase your jog to a full sprint for 30 seconds (the fartlek), then slow back down to your jog. As you get better, you can run for longer periods and sprint for longer periods. For now, jog for 20 minutes with the sprints every five minutes.

2. Exercises - stomach exercises are very important. Do as many crunches in a sitting as you can. The crunches with your legs extended upward are very effective. Also, try to hold the "Bridges" for two minutes, then add on 15 seconds the next times you do them. Hold side bridges for about 30 seconds or as long as you can stand them.

TECHNICAL

1. Wall touches. If you have a brick wall at your house, and chances are you do (and your parents let you), practice striking a soccer ball against the wall. You only need to stand about 5 ft away from the wall to be effective. Hit the ball 100 times with each your left and right feet trapping the ball each time or playing one-touch back to the wall. This is a great way to improve your touch. You can also throw the ball against the wall and head it back or body trap. Do 50 body traps.

2. Juggling. If you don't have a wall, you can juggle the ball. Remember also to throw the ball a few feet in the air and practice trapping it with all parts of your body (except hands and arms!)


If you do these few fitness and technical drills, you can greatly enhance your game in a short time. You won't need to spend time at practice going over the basics.

Good luck!