Which way will your fitness go during this Spring Break? It can get worse, stay the same or actually improve.
One of the most challenging aspects of High School soccer is the ratio of games to days in the week. There are just so many games and in such challenging conditions, that it is very difficult on a HS athlete. That in turn creates the need for recovery days, both mental and physical. Thus, it is hard to fit in all aspects of fitness during our training; flexibility, aerobic and anaerobic cardiovascular training, strength and core work. So, Spring Break actually presents a great opportunity, absent the pressures of playing in matches, to work on your overall fitness and set yourself up for healthier, more fit months of April and May. And it doesn't have to be a misery to do so. Here is my suggestion: Every other day - aerobic workouts of 30-35 minutes of distance running (4 miles) or 45 minutes of stationary biking (12 miles). On the alternating days, begin with 20 minutes of personal soccer ball work and then do an Anaerobic workout such as the 800-600-400-200 yard challenge we have done, or 6 sets of 40 second 200 yard sprints with 1 minute breaks in between. These workouts will take you only 15 minutes tops. NOTE: You can substitute a hard day skiing or hiking for either of these aerobic or anaerobic workouts. And then get in 4 to 5 yoga, core workouts, or extended stretching sessions at a studio or with the use of an online app such as peloton or youtube. Doing this with a partner that you are on vacation or stay-cation with, will really help. This will have an immediate impact on your ability to play better and for longer, to not get injured, and on your mental resilience on the field. Your coach will notice! It will also help our team as we approach the closing months of the season. Accountability - record your workouts and show your coach what it is you did over the break. I too plan to record what it is I did over the break and share with the team. Hopefully even your coach is a little less sore and a little more fit as we exit Spring Break. Have fun!
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...is to watch MORE soccer. Players who regularly watch the highest levels of the game, and have a purpose behind it, will improve more than if they do not do that. Tactics, positioning, decision-making, mentality, even techniques can actually improve just from regular viewing.
So, here is my suggestion for how to actually make that work. Pick a professional English club to support, get to know their players, and watch specially the players who play your position, or who you resemble and want to emulate. You will start to learn what to DO, and also to NOT DO what professional players never do (if that makes sense.) Why English clubs? Their leagues - the men's Premier League and the women's Super League - are the best in the world by far and also are the most easily accessed on your TV. And their clubs are historic and iconic and are improving. Pick one of the BIG six clubs: Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Arsenal, Tottenham, or Chelsea - their teams are always competitive, the most featured teams on TV, and are rarely if ever in danger of being relegated to the second division. Right now, those six clubs are first through sixth in the Super League (!) and are five of the top six in the Premier League (Chelsea is having a poor season by their standards and are currently 11th.) I don't care if you pick a team because of its colors, its history, because of its position today in the table, or because you really like a certain player. Just pick a team...and then stick with it. And watch both the women and the men play for YOUR new club. I will be asking for YOUR club by Tuesday the 12th when we have a bus trip down to CO Springs! FINALLY...as girls soccer players, support and watch your US women's national team every time you can. Tomorrow night they play Columbia in a big quarterfinal Gold Cup match at 6:15 PM, with the game being shown on Paramount Plus. Coming off a poor Women's World Cup this past summer, the USA continue to show that they are no longer the dominant team they once were, losing to Mexico in a group match this past week for the first time EVER on US soil. It was great to get our start on the field with practices this week, culminating in today's scrimmages at Dakota Ridge (JV) and Chatfield (V). I thought our girls played super hard, and the one characteristic I really liked was the willingness to learn, or to put a single word on it - coachability. We did a lot right, and some not so right, but players were soaking up feedback and improving as the day went on.
My highlight of the week was seeing our whole program together this Wednesday for uniform sign-out, then team bonding, and finally a program meeting. At the end of the program meeting, we - players, coaches, parents - made some noise and did a "Cougars on Three" chant. I do that annually so that everyone in the program can feel ownership for building and nurturing the program's culture. We want our program to be steeped in selflessness, teamwork, respect, effort, purpose, encouragement, positivity, resilience. Those characteristics in our players, more than anything, make for an excellent program. This week we began to give out Cory the Cougar. Cory has already been given to 5 players on the JV team for being Cougars of the Day - to Anya, Devyn, Audra and to Sophie and Sydney, all for excellence in one or more of those characteristics above. I would like for all of those players to come visit me at the office on Monday to get your picture with Cory! |
AuthorCoach Jeans |