Women's Soccer Journal from San Diego

August 15-16 Journal Entry
August 17 Journal Entry

August 18

Continuing our journey though phase one of our season, in the morning the team and myself once again found ourselves out on the soccer field... who would of thought?

Today's training was quite similar to yesterday's, as we continued to focus on the basic strategies of defending; only today the emphasis was on 2 vs. 2 defending. Although it may sound so basic, defending is critical in the success of our team. The high intensity of practice and the competitiveness shown by both veterans and most impressively by the rookies during our 2 vs. 2 "flying changes" caused Jerry to blow his whistle... something you rarely see him without. The deafening ringing sound from the whistle ending practice brought some relief to all the players as we had earlier anticipated that treacherous fitness that all those nice coaches make us run... but only the team knows for real that Jerry was having one of his whistle happy moments and we all consider ourselves lucky. Today the team was also very grateful to have the afternoon off from soccer, allowing us to spend some free time touring San Diego. Yeah right... remember we're 27 college girls, so our first choice--and last--was nothing other than... the mall. The team spent the rest of the afternoon at Fashion Valley Mall, where the majority of us choose to watch a movie, do a little shopping and grab a bite to eat. Nothing too extreme or exciting but enough to keep us rested up for another double day tomorrow.

So, after almost a week of our pre season training, which keep in mind has been pretty tough both mentally and physically, several nicknames have been officially adopted by a few players. As for myself our sarcastic Kristi Candau has nicknamed me "Grandma,"... I won't tell you why but I'm sure if you were to see me after a double day you'd probably figure it out. Unfortunately the name has kind stuck and both our coaching staff and the team gets a few kicks out of it... at least it provide some laughter.

But until next time, this grandma is off to sleep!

GO BRONCOS!!

- Veronica #3