A few teammates had tiny injuries here and there but niggles at most, I think – ankle issues that accumulated and reared their heads during preseason conditioning with all of the hills… sometimes used as a cop out to not do another set of hills. Otherwise I think the steep inclines plus very little running on any kind of pavement staved off serious injuries. And after all, it lasted only two weeks. We didn’t touch a ball during this time.
Honestly, the biggest injuries we suffered were to our psyches because this coach took it a little too far sometimes. We weren’t the only team who participated in this biannual ritual; the whole club did it. But it was like hell for the few teams who had my coach. Playing for him made almost every coach I had afterwards seem like a breeze.
The teams in that club overall were not terrible but not playing in any high-level leagues, whose clubs would find wasting this much time on conditioning heinous and useless to an extent.
I do think it made a difference sometimes… until you played against a team whose players were almost all bigger and more skillful than yours and mostly better skilled. It’s hard to combat that.
In my experience, regardless of the level at which I played, the teams that were most successful were those whose players were not only talented and athletic but also grew up playing together for ages. Sure, you can accommodate a couple new players each year – maybe a team scoops up a talented player from a lower league, or players swap clubs for whatever reason (politics, mostly). But the girls who were playing in national leagues were almost always loyal to one club most of their lives.
I still find it fascinating how youth sports, especially soccer, differs so vastly between the US and European countries.
Ahaha, yeah, the coach I mention above and the assistant coach also had issues with this, especially during tournaments. Nothing violent, but it’s comical how much they would get into it. Parents, too. Parents and coaches were crazy in mediocre leagues but became much tamer as I progressed.
Oh my god, I know this feeling all too well. Even during a mediocre game.
Honestly, I never got that impression growing up. It definitely applied to American football, probably ice hockey as well. There were definitely strength and conditioning coaches for soccer, and my mom paid for my private sessions with one because he was nearby another facility where I got additional sport-specific training. But I look back at it, and it wasn’t very good. I suspect that proper strength training was widely used among national level players, and that was all. Also, many but not all of the kids here who become successful D1 college athletes played multiple sports, which probably increased chances of exposure to proper GPP.
You said you were a defender, right? I can’t imagine that size working for any other position besides the goalkeeper, haha.
It was fun to escape into my basement or driveway and practice it. I think I posted a video of myself doing some freestyle a while ago; I should try it again. I’m always surprised when my feet still remember how to do that.
It is nostalgic! I have to say I don’t regret giving it up though, which would shock fourteen year-old me.
If I am thinking of the same thing, I think some of us made a list in a different thread. Let me know if I am wrong.