The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Another week of training has gone by and things are becoming clearer as far as the Hapnot Kweens soccer team is concerned. Many of the older players have attended training on a sporadic basis due to work commitments; these players will be returning next week to provide extra impetus to the training routines. This is the stage of pre-season training that coaches either love or hate, players abilities are becoming clearer, both in terms of chemistry within the team, positional play and also ability. As both players and coaches know, not every player will make the team, sometimes the players know that themselves, for others it comes a complete shock, either way it is a job that needs to be done by the coach. High school soccer is tough, our tournament formats mean that we can play four or five games in two days, fitness is crucial to success. On a wet soggy day in October, teams that are prepared, fit and possess the stamina to play the last five minutes of a game as if it was the first five minutes, tend to emerge as victors. Our training is basically split into three parts, the first two or three weeks we concentrate on fitness and agility, with minimum ball work. We then move on to the second stage of training where we begin to work on skills, basic skills such as controlling the ball, passing and receiving are practiced every session, with advanced skills being introduced. The final stage will be to work on team shape on the field, positional play and movement off the ball. This season should be a very good one for the Kweens, the last three years has seen a steady improvement in quality and results. With only one player graduating in 2007 we have kept a good nucleus of players who understand the systems we use and also play well as a team. There are several younger players training this year who all show great promise, it is now up to each individual player to prove to me that they deserve to be on the team. We play using the three principles of success, they are pride, passion and belief. I want players who will wear the team shirt with pride, play with the passion required to win and believe not only in their own ability, but also the team's ability.
