With the season fast approaching, Bob Jones girls soccer faced an obstacle. A winter storm froze our fields and closed down our school. With no way to practice, it looked like we were going to be a week behind in preparation for our first game. The coaches knew they had to think of something and think of it fast. And so through Zoom, the athletes persevered to continue their training. Living and dining rooms became weight rooms; chairs, couches, and sometimes even dogs replaced exercise equipment; the girls soccer team made it work. “It was great to still get good work in and improve despite the setback of the weather. Also, I think getting through that as a team really helped us bond,” junior Caroline Kokan reflected.
The girls did strength training, but how did they get in cardio without the space to run? Thanks to quarantine, there was a large selection of small-space cardio workouts. From dance to soccer-specific, the girls soccer team used those videos to get their hearts pumping. Not only did the videos help to improve cardio, some helped to get touches on the ball. While many of the athletes, coaches included, said the exercises were difficult, Senior Kricket Johnston claimed it was “light work” stating that they were “too easy” for her. Still, the team realized many things from this experience: the switch from right foot to left is surprisingly harder than expected, carpet is a much easier surface to play on than hardwood, and we take for granted the time and space we are given to practice our sport.
Instead of sulking about the practices we were missing out on, Coach Luke Oakley chose to prepare us for future games and sessions. By going into extensive detail about game scenarios and drills, he helped us to further understand the tactical side of the game. “I think the tactical discussions were not only very helpful because they gave all the players a visual of the smartest decisions to make in a game-like scenario, but also seeing the play laid out helped me see where players should be moving to best support their teammates,” Sophomore Lauryn Lao stated. At the end of each meeting, we took advantage of the time we had by sharing our favorite soccer memories, bonding over our experiences.
The work we put in despite the setback made me, and my teammates, so much more excited for the rest of the season.
