Aug. 11, 2008

Preseason for the USF Women's Soccer Team began on Wednesday, August 6th. All of us returning players were thrilled to be back on campus and I'm sure our 14 new freshmen were nervous, but just as excited to be there. A lot of changes on our team have been made in the last few years with new coaches, trainers, and players, but everyone seems to now have the same thought; that this is our year. This is our time to move on from transitions and difficulties to truly come together as a team and accomplish something great.

The first three days of our preseason were exciting, exhausting, and inspiring all at once. First thing Wednesday morning the team met in the locker room at 6:30 am to run to the track at Kezar Stadium in Golden Gate Park. This was it, our first fitness test of the season...the Cooper Test: 7 1/4 laps in twelve minutes and twenty seconds. It was apparent that some of the freshmen and even some upper classmen were apprehensive about the test. Everyone wanted to make a good first impression on the coaches for the season, but all were very aware that there was not much use in worrying about it at that moment. A summer's worth of training and preparation was about to come into play. Fortunately, as a whole our team did pretty well on the Cooper. Many girls passed and a few missed the time by a few heartbreaking seconds. We split our now very large team into two groups to run the test. This way those who were not running it at the time could yell encouragement or even step in to pace players who needed support. As much as the Cooper Test is about fitness, it is also about getting through it as a team. This was the most rewarding part of the day - seeing teammates (some of whom had only met hours or days before) pushing, supporting, and cheering for one another.

That afternoon the team met on the field to play an 11 v. 11 game. This was a great chance for us to play off some of our nervous energy and excitement, as well as for the coaches to see a glimpse of where everyone might fit together on the field. Devastatingly, one of our freshmen suffered a serious knee injury in the first half of play. It was a frightening misfortune for us to witness as a team. As unfortunately common as knee injuries are in the women's game, I can never get used to it and thank my lucky stars that I have not undergone surgery myself (knock on a forest's worth of wood). The injured player displayed uncommon and inspiring resilience right away. The rest of the team will be there for her during her rehab and cannot wait to get her back on the field!

Thursday morning we were back on the field at 7 am to run our next fitness test: 120's. That is, run 120 yards down the field in 18 seconds, back to the start by 48 seconds, and start again at 104 seconds for a total of 7. This test is especially challenging after running the Cooper the day before and it showed. But once again, as a whole our team ran it really well and I was happy to see us working together and cheering one another on. After, our Strength and Conditioning Coach Evan Nielson met us on the field to measure our 20-yard, 40-yard, and agility run times. These tests are always much more fun and more competitive than the others, with players jeering each other about getting faster times.

That Thursday afternoon we met on the field to play a 4 v. 4 tournament, one of my personal favorites. The whole team was split into four teams of four plus a goalkeeper on each. Each team of four then played six short games, with goals and points tallied after each one. Then championship and consolation games were played to finish. These games were so fun and competitive! It was great to see players, old and new, communicating, working together, and getting stuck into some big-time tackles! Senior Stephanie Randall, known to us affectionately as Randeez, scored the most goals and received the golden boot award for the day. I was the goalkeeper with the least goals against and received the golden glove award. I even had less goals against than our new goalkeeping coach, Mike Herman, who was playing with us and I will never let him live that down! Of course, I will probably be regretting this next week when he is getting me back by running me into the ground, but for now, it is totally worth it.

Friday morning, once again bright and early at 7 am, the team met on the field to run the Beep test. By the third day of fitness testing, our muscles were pretty tight and tired, but we had to power through. After the test we headed down to the weight room to record our maximum pull-ups, push-ups, and sit-ups. Then Evan put us through a brief but definitely taxing upper body and core workout. That afternoon we played a few 9 v. 9 games on the field, where our experience of playing together is already beginning to show.

That night, because training and eating every meal together is not enough time together, the team went out to a movie. It was a nice distraction from all the running we've been doing and will continue to do. Coming together and creating team chemistry is not an easy task in any preseason, let alone one in which 14 of 26 players are incoming freshmen. Surprisingly, however, we have been getting along great, coming together more each day, supporting each other as family, and already exhibiting day-to-day jokes and banter. Each day I feel like I get to know a new teammate better, learning their strengths on the field or their quirks off the field. I have never been more excited for a season here at USF and I cannot wait until our games start on August 22nd! GO DONS!