How to Become a Successful Soccer Team
October 3, 2012
Becoming A Successful Soccer Team
Terry Sanford High School has always had a very successful soccer program. The school has been known as “the team to beat” in the conference for a very long time. To a fan or student of the school, it may seem as if it comes naturally and that the soccer team is built from natural talent. Although the squad is a very talented one, it requires a huge load of work and training to become the team that they are. The journey begins months in advance of tryouts, and the team continues to perfect its game up until the final whistle of the final game.
The road to becoming a state tournament contending team begins during the final semester of the previous school year. The beginning of May comes, and word starts to get out about team workouts and meetings. These are set up by the rising seniors, who will be the leaders of the team. At first, training is only two hours on Friday afternoons spent scrimmaging and doing what is known in the soccer world as “getting your touch back.” These light workouts carry into the summer and begin taking place two to three times a week at any available field. This is when the numbers begin to grow, and a potential squad starts to shape up. As the summer progresses, training sessions pick up and become more intense with more long distance running and sprints to get the players' physical fitness back up to the appropriate level, followed by sessions in the weight room to build muscle and size so they can physically compete with the larger teams they will face.
Around mid July, the varsity coach begins to show up at random training sessions to observe the skill levels of both individuals and the team as a whole. This is also the time when the Varsity coach will give out information of a team camp with multiple collegiate coaches that the players are strongly encouraged to attend. The camp will narrow out the physically and skillfully weak players. The team finally begins to take shape, and
Becoming A Successful Soccer Team
Terry Sanford High School has always had a very successful soccer program. The school has been known as “the team to beat” in the conference for a very long time. To a fan or student of the school, it may seem as if it comes naturally and that the soccer team is built from natural talent. Although the squad is a very talented one, it requires a huge load of work and training to become the team that they are. The journey begins months in advance of tryouts, and the team continues to perfect its game up until the final whistle of the final game.
The road to becoming a state tournament contending team begins during the final semester of the previous school year. The beginning of May comes, and word starts to get out about team workouts and meetings. These are set up by the rising seniors, who will be the leaders of the team. At first, training is only two hours on Friday afternoons spent scrimmaging and doing what is known in the soccer world as “getting your touch back.” These light workouts carry into the summer and begin taking place two to three times a week at any available field. This is when the numbers begin to grow, and a potential squad starts to shape up. As the summer progresses, training sessions pick up and become more intense with more long distance running and sprints to get the players' physical fitness back up to the appropriate level, followed by sessions in the weight room to build muscle and size so they can physically compete with the larger teams they will face.
Around mid July, the varsity coach begins to show up at random training sessions to observe the skill levels of both individuals and the team as a whole. This is also the time when the Varsity coach will give out information of a team camp with multiple collegiate coaches that the players are strongly encouraged to attend. The camp will narrow out the physically and skillfully weak players. The team finally begins to take shape, and