Men's Soccer: Pitch Points
August 25, 2009 11:25 PM | General
August 25, 2009
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – When you watch a soccer match, it’s difficult to miss the grace and elegance the sport requires, as a player dribbles the ball around defenders and down the field. What many people fail to realize or think about is the amount of strength training and conditioning demanded by one of the most exhausting sports.
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| Assistant Strength and Conditioning coach Luke Sage watches to ensure Alex Silva is lifting with proper technique.
WVU Sports Communications photo |
Last year, the West Virginia University men’s soccer team, although not out of shape, many times was forced to play through injuries. Other times, the team was dealt a difficult hand as players had to sit the bench because an injury was too severe to play through, forcing athletes to play for extended periods of time without rest.
Heading into 2009, many things have changed regarding the program – a new look, a new perspective, and most noticeably, the amount training the athletes put in the weight room and on the field, in terms of conditioning.
At the head of that change is new full-time assistant strength and conditioning coach Luke Sage, who enters his sixth overall season with the Mountaineers.
"The team has had a strength coach in the past, but it's just recently that we really have gotten 100-percent support and had everyone buy into the program,” Sage comments. “Participation is a huge part of what we changed. This summer, we had 14 guys attend lifting sessions. The summer before, according to the coaches, we had zero. That's the biggest turnaround and one of the biggest contributing factors - their level of participation.”
In soccer, change of direction, change of pace, explosion from the lower body and speed are all crucial components in the sport. To be able to find a long pass in the air, pinpoint it and track it down could mean the difference between an opponent scoring and preventive defense; it also could be the difference in beating an opposing defender to a through ball and having a favorable opportunity on goal and losing a valuable possession.
While the incoming class, depending on their individual workout regimens prior to college, has been “thrown into the fire,” the 2008 returnees encountered this new strength and conditioning program following the fall season.
"In the spring, we had an extremely high level of participation,” Sage adds. “[Director of Strength and Conditioning] Mike Joseph was running the program at the time, and he made some big strides with the team in the spring and we carried that through the summer."
Although the team lost some of its veterans for the spring season, the change was immediately noticed as many of the student-athletes appeared to have added speed to their arsenal, on top of having more endurance during the spring matches. It also had a positive effect on the outcome of many of the team’s contests – seeing more offense, arguably from the enhanced condition they were in.
"Down the road, it's going to help us greatly, especially toward the end of the season,” assistant men’s soccer coach Mark Carr says. “In the present, it's really helped with the discipline and it's helped hold our guys accountable. As the season goes by, multiple games per week, it makes sure our guys are prepared and are as fresh as possible each match."
Senior Jason Bristol said in the offseason he’s actually put on four pounds of muscle and feels more conditioned and more flexible than he has his entire career donning the Old Gold and Blue.
When Sage heard the flexible comment, he smiled. He knows that his program is more than just about increasing muscle size.
“It is assumed that strength and conditioning is just strength training. It's an awful lot more than just that,” Sage adamantly says. “We incorporate the entire body. We try to train it as one unit. We do a lot of lower body training, as far as plyometrics and squatting. We try to make sure that their lower assembly is balanced. In addition to the weight training, we have the speed and agility. I'm teaching specific speed drills and techniques.”
The Mountaineers recently put their skills to test against Michigan on Aug. 23 in an exhibition and the results showed instantly. For a team that struggled offensively in 2008, an outsider would be oblivious to that. WVU controlled the pace for the entire match and raced up and down the field without any signs of fatigue. More importantly, the team’s speed and tremendous conditioning gave it an impeccable advantage as it had numerous opportunities on the offensive end.
As the Mountaineers continue to prepare for their season-opening match against UC-Santa Barbara, ranked No. 16 in the Soccer America preseason poll, expect to see a team with a new look. More conditioned. Stronger. And above all else, successful.
