It's been 11 days since the start of preseason, back on that balmy Sunday evening when many of us met at the turf for the bleepin' beep test. (Or was it the beepin' Bleep test?) We started out with a list of 97 names on a list who quickly became flesh and blood students of every possible description: swaggering seniors, jiving juniors, scatter-brained sophomores and fearful frosh. Eleven days later, we've trained hard, scrimmaged, rehearsed set plays, tried on our uniforms, and now we're ready for the games to begin. The Varsity and JV get the honors, hosting Bishop Guertin on Friday at 4:00, with the Varsity on Merriman-Branch Field, and the JV on the time-honored turf of George Merrill Field, next to the high school. (Did you know that this location once housed the original Sachem Village?)
Timing-wise, today, there was a lot about today's practice schedule that I liked, because it allowed me to be in touch with every single player and coach in the program. We started with a Varsity practice on the turf, jammed into a 90-minute window right after school. In reality, the best we could do was to get going with 75 minutes before the field hockey team's scrimmage. By the time we had finished warmups, we had less than an hour, but this was the day before a game, and it was all good. We weren't even bothered when the Windsor Field Hockey team marched onto the far end of the field and started setting up their cones. Uh, coach? ladies?
Twice during our warmup, I left things in Ben Snyder's capable hands and zoomed out in front of the high school to make sure that the practice busses were going to arrive on schedule, so we could load up the 50 or so Freshman, Reserve and JV players headed to Norwich. Mirable dictu, the busses came on time! Two for the soccer mob, headed to the Pasture, and one for Reserve Girls Soccer, bound for Huntley. Back to the turf! Practice lurched foward, and we looked pretty shabby, the day after a very promising scrimmage with Hopkinton. The only real coherent work being done was by Judi Strohbehn, planting mums and weeding the area in front of the snack shack. Talk about over-qualified. This wasn't bad. No way we would be overconfident heading into tomorrow's game.
(Although sometimes Hanover teams can always find a way to be overconfident).
We ended our dress rehearsal for corner kicks with Luke Strohbehn emphatically heading a beautifully-driven Asa Berolzheimer serve into the back of the net. Want a safe bet for the BG game? Bet on Luke creating havoc in the box during corners and restarts. We finished up with some good old bread and butter, and huddled for a bit after the workout was done. This team is ready to compete tomorrow.
Now for the fun part. I hopped into my car, which for the last 11 days had contained soggy soccer balls, mouldering pinnies, various dew-bedecked lost and found items, leaking ice buckets, and sweaty players. There was a certain olefactory je ne said quois within my trusty ride. Good thing it was a windows-open day. I pulled into my favored parking space at the Pasture. It's the one right behind one of the goals, where it's certain the be hammered by balls high and wide of the net. I stepped out of the car, and ........Paradise! Everywhere I looked, there were hard-working soccer players on the glistening greensward. The grass was mowed (oh, boy, does that field-maintenance episone seem like a long while ago!), the sky was blue, and the fleecy white clouds scudded by on northerly breezes, presaging the dome of high pressure that will give us a sweet day tomorrow.
On the Farmer's Market field, Mike Callanan was prepping the JV for tomorrow's game. He's a marvel. 48 years coaching, and he still has his team meticulously organized and ready to go. Oh, and he was the last coach to leave the field at the end, hunting in the tall grass for a missing soccer ball. He knows every one of his balls personally, and won't leave until they all accounted for. Across the way, on the near end of the King Arthur Field, Rob Edson was putting the Freshmen through their paces. They looked really splendid in their flashy gold practice jerseys, and were working on a small-sided game to enhance their field vision. Rob brought them together in time for me to offer them a small discourse on the value of proper hydration. We really want all of our players to bring enough water to every practice and game so that they can drink copiously during, and then drink a lot more afterwards. Those dinky little water bottles just aren't enough. We need to start thinking in terms of half gallons. And the best way to re-hydrate after a session is with a 50-50 mix of water and sports drink. Let's all try to work on this. Oh, and I had time to give back some lost and found, so Brook got his shoes back from yesterday. In my past life, I was GREAT at Lost and Found.
Then I spent a good 20 minutes watching Coach Willie Johnson working with the 28 members of the Reserve Team pool. There were "only" 28 because 4-5 other candidates weren't there. That's our current challenge: How do we handle the 35 or so Reserve players? We had 8-10 upperclassmen come out of the woodwork at the start of school, seeking spots on the team. It's a nice compliment to the program, but it is a challenge. Willie and I have been talking a lot about this, and we see a lot of good possibilities. We're going to take a week to let everyone show us their commitment, and one of the advantages of this situation is that bar is being raised for everyone. The days of Reserve Soccer being a casual, come-when-you-like affair are long gone. They'll have fun this season, but the fun will come from working hard and showing up every day. I have already calculated that 45- of these players will be on the JV next year. We owe it to them to create a team situation where they can develop and become better players. For our first game, we'll have a practice pool with every player in it, and pick a team of 22 or so for the next match up. That way we'll have a realistic game management situation, and it gives us the flexibility to allocate playing time based on performance and attitude in practice, and also on the opposition. The Reserves also figure to be excellent scrimmage opponents for both the JV and the Freshmen. We're gong to devote a lot of time to making a logistically challenging situation into a win-win for every one of these players. It's worthy to note, by the way, that we have four foreign exchange students with us in the program. They all appear to be doing quite well, and I am particularly excited to watch Inigo on the JV team and Joseph in goal for the Reserves.
5:30 came quickly, and all three of the teams picked up and crowded into the awaiting cars and First Student Bus, faithfully piloted by Warren Turner, my favorite driver. (Yes, I know many of these drivers. That way I can get good reports on bus behavior. So far, so good). It was an amazing afternoon for me. There were 74 players at the Pasture, and another 26 on the turf. Exactly 100 Hanover High soccer players. That's crazy! But we're equal to the task. After the boys had left, all four Head Coaches (Grabill, Callanan, Edson and Johnson) stood around and chatted. And no, we weren't all resplendent in our red shirts. But yes, we were all color-coordinated in gunslinger black.
And we talked shop for a good while, about field use in the days ahead, and missing soccer balls (Edson is almost as anal as Callanan), and some of the players we all know in common, and tomorrow's games. Then it was time to head back across the river for everyone but RiverWillie.
I'm bone tired as I type this. But it's good tired, satisfied tired, work-in-progress tired, proud of these players tired, TGIF tired. Big day tomorrow, and then a well-deserved weekend for all of us. Thanks for your trust and support. Good times ahead.
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