Preseason - Day Three

contributed by Caroline Garber '10 (Biology)

Here we go again! It’s day three of preseason and the physical and mental demands of the two-a-day routine are in high gear. Practice started at 10:00 am this morning with direction from creative soccer warm-up enthusiast, Coach Taylor. The practice focused on the 3 aspects of the game our team will be striving to master throughout this season: defense, possession, and transition. Specifically, this mornings practice drove home the importance of opening up your hips when receiving a ball to better see the field and your options, as well as movement that provides the teammate with possession two passing options… always. We ended this practice with one of my all time favorite things, RELAY RACES!! I am proud to say that my team (Baumann, Deena, Devyn, Sammy, and myself) crushed the competition with eleven points! We’re still waiting for our reward; bragging rights will do for now.

We had a big break between the end of practice 1 and the start of practice 2. Coach Tiff held brief meetings with each individual athlete during this time. Everybody else enjoyed the napping opportunity. As Coach Tiff kindly spelled out for me in a voicemail, practice was going to be moved up to six instead of seven that evening – Thursday the 20th of August, not Friday the 21st of August (She must think I’m scatterbrained… psshhh me?!). At 6:00, the team was ready to go but the weather was not allowing. We waited about 30 minutes in the locker room watching Katie Froms and Anna Selser attempt to teach us moves for the boogie dance our team will be performing for the Case campus later this month. Ana strung toilet paper in Soo Hoo’s locker. Sorry if you are finding out this way Soo Hoo. FINALLY we were free to head out to the field.

The evening practice focused on our forwards! Checking runs, accurate passes, playing to feet, angles, maintaining possession… I could go on. After a rough start to practice, the level of play started to pick up. By the time we moved on to play 11 v 11 full field, the kinks were out and I think both the Coaches and the team were very encouraged by how well we were playing together so soon into preseason. I have been able to be a part of this program as it has changed and grown over the past 4 years. Truthfully, I am so proud of the team we have right now. The work ethic is high, the talent is present, and the will to win is stronger than ever. I am so ready to see this season start to unfold. Stay Tuned!!!!