I always know when summer is winding down "" not by the cooler air or the changing colors of leaves, but by the start of soccer season.
Every year, soccer players at my school reunite on the third week of August to begin training for the roughly two-month-long season ahead of them. The first three days make up the try-out period, during which varsity players must run a mile in seven minutes and perform drills to demonstrate their ball-handling abilities. On the fourth day, our coach announces which players have made the varsity team and which will play for the junior varsity, or JV, team.
After the selection process, the new varsity team elects three or four captains, most of whom are seniors, with the occasional representative from the junior class. The captains' job is to dictate team stretches, run some warm-up drills, and smooth out any conflicts between teammates. After we've chosen our captains, we know that soccer season is officially under way.
At Cherry Valley-Springfield Central School (a member of the Tri-Valley League), the goal of our varsity soccer teams is to compete at the Tri-Valley Championship game on Oct. 18 at the State University College at Oneonta. Though our girls' team has not competed at this event in recent years, our coach, Amy Garretson, is remaining optimistic. We have a solid team this year, with 11 seniors, four juniors, three sophomores, and three freshmen. We hope that our quantity of older, experienced players benefits us this year.
We have also been inspired by the CV-S boys' varsity team, which won the Tri-Valley Championship last year and then went on to win the Section IV title.
In the meantime, we are practicing daily. We run long distances in addition to performing sprinting drills.
We dribble around cones and take shots on goal. We pass back and forth with varying parts of our feet. We divide into sub-teams and scrimmage. However, perhaps the most important thing that we do is team-building activities.
It may sound silly to spend practice time falling backwards off of bleachers into teammates' arms, reciting new cheers, and giving each other fond nicknames, but these are the experiences that have helped me to identify with my teammates and thus become a better player.
Feeling close to the other members of one's team is an essential part of soccer; on the field, our awareness of our teammates is heightened, and the 11 players on the field must function as a single unit. Our actions depend mainly on the whereabouts and efficiency of our colleagues.
If Fiona Doherty, a senior and our starting left midfielder, wants to pass up the field to Courtney Van Brink, another senior and our starting left wing, Fiona must be acutely aware of Courtney's placement on the field and the direction in which she is running.
She must have faith in Courtney's ability to receive the ball and make an effective play with it. Because she has fallen many times into Courtney's arms and even allowed Courtney to jump over her back during our favorite team-building game, "snakes in the grass," Fiona trusts her teammate completely.
Perhaps the first event that brought our team together was a thunderstorm on the first day of preseason. Fortunately, the rain let up just before practice began, and we were able to play outdoors. However, the showers had soaked the field, and we slipped and slid, even with our cleats on. When it came time to sit down to stretch our hamstrings and quads, we realized that the field was not only wet, but incredibly muddy.
A while later, we had to do crunches and leg-lifts, and we had no choice but to lie on our backs, soaking up the mud, which squelched each time we made the slightest movement. When we stood up, we were caked in mud from head to toe; even our hair was covered.
Mrs. Garretson, seizing the opportunity to do some team-building, instructed us to run relays, but to end each sprint with a mud-slide. By the end of practice, we were so covered in mud that we were unrecognizable. I remember when my mom picked me up from practice, she exclaimed at my dirtiness. I just laughed, knowing that there were 20 other equally muddy girls explaining themselves to their mothers somewhere nearby.
It is true that our ambition is to compete in the Tri-Valley Championship game next month. However, our team is already a success.
Each member of my team bid a premature adieu to her summer vacation and arrived at the school every day in full soccer garb, water bottle in hand. Each member performed drill after drill, ran lap after lap, and participated in team-building activities with enthusiasm and the necessary degree of silliness.
And slowly, we have become a team.
Maggie Millner is a senior at Cherry Valley-Springfield Central School.
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