Sophomore Shenanigans: A Training Tale

Last week during our final week of spring training each class got to lead a practice. We each had a specific day we would be running training. The freshmen ran Tuesday’s training, the sophomores ran Wednesday and the juniors and fifth years finished off the week running training on Thursday. I was so excited to get to create the practice plan and I personally think the sophomores had the best training out of everyone else. It’s safe to say we really got into it. We created and printed out replicas of the papers our coach uses and even organized the drills the same way he does. However, the drills we ran were nothing like the ones he ran during the season. Instead, we played fun games the entire time.

We started out with probably the best game of the entire training. It doesn’t really have a name so we just called it the communication game. And let me tell you, it was nothing short of one of the funniest things I have ever seen. Everyone partners up and while one partner is blindfolded the other partner has to direct them to a ball. Once partner one has a ball in their hands the second partner then has to direct them to another group and throw the ball at the blindfolded partner in that group. It was so chaotic that sometimes you couldn’t even hear your partner. Girls were running into each other, soccer balls were flying everywhere and people were on the ground crying with laughter. Our assistant coach got some of the best moments on camera and it made for an amazing Instagram video. I had way too much fun editing and putting this together. 

 

(It won't let me insert it so watch it here or on our Instagram page @onuwsoccer !)

After the communication game came to an end, we moved on to flying threes. This game was essentially a three versus three continuous drill but it’s always fun to play. Following flying threes was Moneyball, a game the team hadn’t played since our old coach left. It brought back so many fun memories. The freshmen didn’t know what it was which, to the rest of us, was crazy to think about. Finally, we ended the session with another old favorite, a little game we call Starbucks. It’s basically a two-touch finishing drill but with some restrictions. Playing both of those games brought back such nostalgic memories of my freshman season. It was so fun to revisit them and reminisce about that time. 

All in all, the sophomores definitely put on the best training of the week. Did we get too into it? Maybe. But did people have fun? Definitely. And in my book, that’s a win. Cheers to the end of the spring season everyone!