Grueling weight room sessions, long, hard runs and months without playing a game. The soccer offseason can be rough, but the Broncos persevered and now present themselves ready for their season.
“We’ve been putting in a lot of work this offseason,” senior Luke Lenamond said. “We’re just ready to put it all to use and start the season.”
Athletes said they’ve tried to enjoy the offseason as much as they can, making the best out of their struggles.
“We have a lot of fun no matter what,” Lenamond said. “We wore banana costumes on Halloween and we do a lot of team bonding. Things like that bring us together as a team.”
While the team does enjoy themselves, they put in work in the weight room. They go three times a week and it plays a key role in their development this offseason.
“When you’re running all the time in a sport like soccer, you start tearing into your muscle,” head soccer coach Sidney Danner said. “With soccer being such a physical sport, having the ability to hold the ball is important. You can’t do that when you’re tiny.”
In addition to the weight room, the team also does a significant amount of running. They run and do conditioning twice a week when they’re not lifting.
“We really focus on staying conditioned so we run a lot,” senior Xander Dozier said. “It sucks, but we need to do it to stay in shape. It also helps us stay healthy so it really benefits the team.”
They’ve never stopped playing since the season ended. Tryouts take place from Dec. 1-3 and the first scrimmage is Dec. 12. Until then, every Friday, they scrimmage to build chemistry and find other ways to practice without even being on the field.
“Our Friday scrimmages are really fun,” Lenamond said. “The varsity scrimmages the JV and it helps us build a lot of chemistry. We also play futsal sometimes and that helps us get creative with our skills and it’s also a ton of fun.”
