CU Women’s Soccer 2011
A Mid-Season Report
It’s October already! Halloween is around the corner and then snow! Yikes… CU Soccer is roughly half way through its 2011 Fall Championship Season and here is a report on where we are ’at’, what we have done, what’s next and what we are hoping to achieve over the next month or so.
What have we done so far:
Team Yoga with Core Power Instructors, Camping Trip ( Yep…25 Princess’s, Camp fires, scavenger hunts and more), Pool Party at the Hoofs, Talked with a Nutrition expert, Team Dinners, Ice baths, Waiting staff at the New Presidents Inauguration, Started a new Strength and Conditioning program with Mike Morris (CU’s new Strength guy), Watched a St. Paul Saints game, heard a few jokes & raps, watched some game film and also……some soccer!
Games to highlight:
1st win of the year 5-0 Vs Northwestern – Good possession soccer and 5 different goal scorers 1-0 Loss to Mankato State – Defensively we showed we had steel and only gave up one goal to a team highly ranked in the country. 3-0 home win Vs Moorhead. A Comprehensive performance and 3 great goals Vs a team on the rise. 2-1 road trip win Vs Bemidji. A goal down, showed spirit and the battle to go get the result we deserved.
Awards so far:
We started an Offensive and Defensive player of the game award at CU – The Ming Ming & Linny awards ( Wonder Pets), leading so far –Kim Sauberlich & Arielle Stimson.
NSIC Offensive Player of the Week – Amanda Olsen
CU Athlete of the Week – Amanda Olsen
Practices:
Our recent focus has been on improving possession as a team, decision making in the final third , team shape as a whole, set pieces and constantly improving our ball skills/technical work. Speed and Agility work is now a regular part of our warm up’s with some fitness work. We are striving (not always succeeding!) to find the correct levels of intensity for our players to develop as individuals and a team. We are also taking time to acclimatize to each other’s expectations, coaching styles and philosophies – It’s a 2-wat street.
We are also working hard with 24 players who all want to play and are all very competitive – finding the ‘correct’ playing time and keeping the team competitive in all games is also uppermost in our thoughts. It’s a challenge and something we are constantly discussing. Extra practices are available and we are getting more and more players take those opportunities to improve their level of play.
Parent/Family Support:
It’s refreshing to see and hear so many of the player’s parents, families and friends at our games, both home and away. I know our players feel that this is a huge part of being on the team, having the support from home and the encouragement they are getting is fantastic – Thank you. This year’s coaching staff all have spouses and kids who have gotten out to the games also, I know we all appreciate their understanding when we are away from home and focused on soccer when we are at home!
Alumni game:
August 20th saw our Alumni game under the lights at the CU stadium. The Alum team was composed of 15+ younger and older grads who had clearly been awaiting this chance to play again! They even brought a coach – Thanks Scott! It was an exciting game with current CU team just edging the win. Thanks so much to those players who came back to campus and have also come out to games to cheer us on.
What’s coming up next?
2 big road games (UIU & Winona), October 14th is a charity night when we play SCSU – We will be holding a raffle and other events to raise funds for St. Jude’s Children’s hospital, Senior day is October 23rd and we will be collecting used soccer gear that weekend to donate to the Sannah Foundation. On the horizon is a winter season with Strength coach Mike Morris and Spring soccer in our Dome.
Team goals:
Everyone needs goals, and I am finding that it is increasingly important for me to have someone to whom I am accountable – even if it’s a note pad and pen. Goals keep us moving in a direction toward what we want to achieve. We asked our team to set goals that were realistic, achievable and specific. We found some common goals and some that were very individual. We re-visit these occasionally to keep us on task as a group.
The Future:
Our focus is certainly on the now at CU and achieving all that we can in year 1 as a staff and team. However, like most other good program’s we have an eye on the future as we recruit the state’s top soccer players and work with other players who have played at the very top levels of club soccer in other states. The future is bright and we will build positively upon the foundations that clearly exist.
CU Player quote:
Question- “What direction is your career taking you at CU? “
Answer – “ Super stardom Steve, Super stardom!”
