Spring Break
Always on guard
Soccer preseason begins in August, but Aggie women focus on game year-round
By: Meredith Zdenek
Issue date: 4/8/09 Section: News
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"It's not a marathon [for this sport], it's a sprint," said women's soccer Head Coach G. Guerrieri.
Fans of the Texas A&M women's soccer team may see the girls play at the Aggie Soccer Stadium throughout the fall, but Guerrieri keeps the girls on a year-long training program to prepare them for each season.
Starting training as early as January for the preseason in August, Guerrieri has the team work on the physical aspect of their game.
"They are waking up at six in the morning four days a week to lift weights," Guerrieri said. "Then we practice four afternoons a week, and a lot of that is based on functionality."
Kristin Arnold, goalkeeper and junior sports management major, said spring is when the team starts to model its style for what it will be like in the fall.
"It's a lot of work to get us bigger, faster and stronger for the season; it's a way to basically jump start us into the summer," said Arnold.
But as the rest of the student body takes a break from school, the girls are still preparing during the summer. Guerrieri makes sure that if the girls leave College Station, they have places they can play and train.
"Many of them stay to catch up or get ahead in school, and by the start of the second summer session almost all of them are back to start working out together and to start forming the bonds," said Guerrieri.
For the incoming freshmen, it is optional to come during summer school and start the preseason with the rest of the team. Preseason training is a way for the team to bond before the season starts.
The team starts preseason play in early August, followed by non-conference games and the conference season. When the season is over, the team is taken into conference tournaments and finally the postseason in November and December.
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