USL Feature
Friday, March 2, 2012
BRADENTON, Fla. – On a warm morning at the IMG Soccer Academy, the almost 200 players at the USL Super Y-League Girls ODP Training Camp were put through their paces in physical testing and on the practice field as they participated in the first full day of training of the weekend.
Most players arrived at the world-class facilities on Thursday, but in the opening two sessions many of the players had already shown why they had been selected to participate in the four-day camp.
“I think it’s going well, I’m very impressed with what I’m seeing initially,” USL National Technical Director Peter Mellor said. “They look very technical, they’ve come in, in most cases, fit, but overall it’s very good. The goalkeeping group is exceptionally good, all 20 goalkeepers definitely deserve to be here and it’s going to be tough picking the best of them from my point of view being the goalkeeping director for the group.”
As part of USL’s new partnership with T4 Soccer, in addition to practices within their squads the players were also put through a series of physical tests, evaluating their fitness, strength and agility. With more colleges implementing similar programs for their players, evaluating fitness during preseason and offseason workouts, Mellor said he thought this week’s testing would be valuable for the players as they push to reach the college ranks, and beyond.
“Knowing their strengths or weaknesses, whether it’s in terms of straightforward sprinting, whether it’s lateral movement, or whether it’s endurance, these tests, which come from Europe and have been going at the top level for quite a while, are very much a part of the game now,” Mellor said. “Collegiately, and certainly professionally, every club has it. I think Manchester City has 14 sports scientists at the club, and Manchester United is very similar, so it’s here to stay because coaches are trying to get the edge.
“At the youth level, we need to introduce this to the kids so they can understand what is in store for them, how they’ve got to look after their body, what areas they need to work on physically, because sport science is part of the game.”
One of the best-known of the tests the players were put through is the yo-yo, or beep test, which tests a player’s physical and mental endurance.
“It is a test to exhaustion, so it measure’s the player’s aerobic and anaerobic ability,” T4 Soccer CEO Mark Shearer said. “It’s the ability to do intervals of work with a short recovery, and to then go on to the next one, and of course the beeps get shorter and shorter, so you have to get faster and faster, so it’s very demanding.”
As tough as the test was, there were some remarkable performances put in as players pushed themselves to their limit. One of the top performances was put in by Julia McGuire of Quickstrike FC, who reached level 18.2 on the test, which put her in impressive company.
“We have a large database now, and we’re able to start analyzing and determining nominative characteristics of what a college player gets at certain levels, what a Super Y-League ODP player should get, what a professional player should get, and you saw today we had a few exceptional players,” Shearer said. “We’ve been in the area testing some college teams, and we had one girl in the Super Y-League ODP who beat 99 percent of those college scores, so it’s great to see a young athlete really have exceptional athleticism.”
Seeing the determination of the players in testing, and their eagerness to learn on the practice field, has certainly been enjoyable for Mellor and the coaching staff so far.
“Just being on the field and seeing kids who want to learn, want to develop asking questions and to us, the coaches, that’s what it’s all about,” Mellor said. “We’re here to see them take our thoughts and philosophies with them, and it’s great when kids are eager to learn.”