Training Camp 2012 Update

Good evening,

With training camp well underway, I wanted to offer a brief update to all followers of the varsity men's soccer team.

Day 1 of camp consisted of fitness testing, including the Cooper's Test, the Arrow Test, 10 and 25 meter sprints, vertical leap, broad jump and the Beep Test. Athletes demonstrated a commitment to off-season conditioning as test scores improved from last year. The squad is stronger, faster and more agile than in previous years thanks to the hard work of our Strength and Conditioning Coach, Rodney Wilson, and his staff. Having players return fit has allowed us to focus on team play in preparation for our US exhibition tour - a 3-night, 4-day tour to compete against Le Moyne College, Hobart College, and, for the third year in a row, Cornell University.

Please check out our men's soccer website at www.gogaelsgo.com/soccer-m for the latest news and updated results of our US tour.

Until next time...

Coach Gencarelli

Men's Soccer - Squash Ladder

As part of our off-season training, we've incorporated a squash ladder to improve players' speed and agility.

Below are the rules of the ladder, rules of play, and current standings.

Ladder Rules:

- Any player can challenge another player 5 or less places above their ranking

- The lower ranked player should provide 2 time options for playing. If they are not suitable the higher ranked player must provide another time that is suitable to the challenger.

- Playing time options should be weekdays between 5pm-9pm unless agreed otherwise by the players.

- When a higher ranked player beats a lower ranked player the standings remain unchanged.

- When lower ranked player B beats a higher ranked player A, player B takes player A’s position and player moves down 1 rank

- A player must play at least one game every 2 weeks or they will drop 1 rank

- Results must be submitted to me as soon as possible

- The challenger will submit the score copying in the player they just played.

Rules of Play:

- Matches are best out of 5 games.

- Points are scored on your serve only.

- At the beginning of the game or when the service changes the server can choose either side to start serving from.

- Games will be up to 9 points unless there is a tie at 8-8 and then a player must win by 2 clear points e.g. 11-9.

- Matches should be played with a yellow double-dot ball.

- Protective eye wear is recommended per the ARC guidelines.

This is the most UP-TO-DATE standings as of March 10th, 2010.

Squash Ladder
March 10th
Position	Player
1	Crabb	David
2	Wilson	Rodney
3	Coyle	Gilbert
4	Soleyn	Drew
5	Gencarelli	Chris
6	Vermeer	Justin
7	Arnold	Mike
8	McBride	Dan
9	Lobo	Lucas
10	Klemencic	Nathan
11	Zanetti	Mike
12	Jarvis	Andrew
13	Zanetti	Pat
14	Rochford	Adrian
15	Carew	Sabrina
16	Zelt	Jason
17	Zelt	Joel
18	Brooks	Jordan
19	Compeau	Scott
20	Colosimo	Andrew
21	Cappon	Eric
22	Koskins	Eric
23	Materne	Max
24	Maxwell	Dylan
25	Michael	Chris
26	Nador	Andrew
27	Ojiaku	Mac
28	Tom	David
29	Zupo	Joe

Men's Soccer - Off-season Training

Hello Gaels Men's Soccer supporters,

I wanted to apologize for the time between this post and my last. After losing the OUA quarter-final match to U of T in heartbreaking fashion, I took some time away to reflect on our season. What could we have done differently? Were we as prepared as we should have been? Did we have the right game plan going into the game? Should we have taken a different approach? These questions, and so many more, were racing through my mind. In the end, I was happy with our game plan, and the way our guys executed it on the pitch. We were 6 minutes away from another berth to the OUA Championships. Unfortunately, that's the way the cookie crumbles sometimes. Regardless, the season is over, and a new phase has begun.

Off-season training is an opportunity for players to improve physically. They need, and will become quicker, faster, and stronger individuals. In addition, with the right approach and commitment, they will become mentally tougher - an important attribute to have in high-pressure situations. I have worked closely with Rodney, our Strength and Conditioning Coach, to develop an off-season training regimen that will challenge our players, and improve every aspect of their movement - balance, coordination, speed, strength, agility. We have futsal training twice-a-week, Complete Athlete Conditioning once-a-week, strength training twice-a-week, and, new this year, we've incorporated squash as a part of their training regimen.

We will be better next season - I'm confident of that. While we will be graduating quality upper-year players, we have a talented group of young players eager to hit the pitch again in August. With a strong 2011 recruiting class, we will be sure to compete at the provincial stage and national stage.

One final note. Over the next few months, I will be posting our squash ladder results. This is so the squad is kept up-to-date on standings, and who their next challenger might be.

Best of luck to all Gaels teams currently in-season. Go Gaels Go!

Chris

quote of the week

Hi All.

So we were taking the men's bball team through a 'character development' workout on the force treadmill this afternoon. One of the boys had his head in a bucket after the second set while his team mates went about completing set 3. When he was asked if he could get on the treadmill he stated "it's better than not doing it." Quote of the week, month or even year. Love it. You can not put a price on what that did for the team, the player and for my level of respect for that guy.

getting into post-season training

Hi All.

Lots of my athletes are heading into post-season training. I like this time of year because I get to reconnect with those athletes who have been dedicated to practice time and not always around the weight room to chat and catch up. Football has been at it for a week and the rugby's are just starting with teaching sessions this week. The soccers will be next on the hit list. I know it sounds like old sage advice, but training camps really do arrive much, much faster than expected. This season, my programs have taken on a creative tact with the traditionals mixed in to make sure everyone gets stronger. I'm in the mood to not get overly extravagant with the exercises and equipment. In essence, the variations all circle around keeping the programs interesting and making sure that the athletes get stronger/fitter etc and avoid injury. There are so many gimics that can draw a program into a circus act and I will admit that it has happened to me on ocassion but I'm fighting it this season. The BOSU's will be minimal, but the squats, DB presses and RDL's will remain. Naturally, I can't avoid the keisers because they are completely awesome, but other toys will be kept in the background. Let's see how it goes.

life savers

Hi All.
I've worked with quite a few injured athletes this past couple of weeks and the sessions have been reminding me of the stresses I dealt with 5 years ago when I herniated 2 disks in my lower back. I fought the reality of the situation until a good friend of mine reinforced the need to go back to basics and essentially learn to move all over again. It took ages to get things right, but years later, I have very few symptoms and can manage things that I never thought I would be able to do again. The athletes who are facing the injuries that I have seen this past week are at that tricky spot where they need to face the reality of how to work through an injury. It takes more than just dealing with the pain. You need to figure out what else can be done to create improvement and you also need to work on the healthy components of your fitness and make them even better. I will hopefully help them see the light.
My life-saver lesson comes from a trail run that I did on Sunday. The route that I decided to take through Gould Lake was insane. It had rocks, roots, moss, drop offs and crazy ups and downs. On one of the easiest parts of the trail, I went over on my right ankle. The exercises that I have been doing in the weight room became my life savers. I reacted quickly enough to pull myself straight and not completely wreck my ankle. Phew! When I trained this morning, I didn't feel the same frustration that I sometimes do with the picky little exercises and movements. All of this goes back to the one conversation I had with a friend when I was in the midst of recovering from my back injury. I'm hoping that my relatively young and injury inexperienced athletes can get the point before it's too late.

Rodney.

Hills

Hi All.
I believe that a hill, an actual, up it goes hill, has a personality. The big one's, the one's that you see from afar, are absolute *%$holes. They want you to fail and they do everything they can to make it happen. They gloat and belittle you at every chance. That's why, when I'm running or cycling, I determine myself to kick it up every big hill. I don't want to let it get the better of me. When I know that a hill is coming, I start thinking about it's personality and push on to get there and run it down. When I win, the hill gets a little bit smaller. The more times I win, the smaller it gets. I have a hill near my house that my wife and I call the 'demoralizer.' It has a nonchalant, almost innocent look but once you get on it, wow, the legs and heart have to work to win. I've taken a few licks from that hill over the years but it's getting a bit smaller every time.
So, think about the hill, or hills, that you face, consider their personality, and beat it out of them. It can be actual hills, or it can be metaphorical hills like injury, fear, mid-terms, whatever, just don't let them get the better of you.

Rodney.

recipe - Korean Beef

Hi All.
I put this one together this morning at 6am before work, just to let it marinade for the day. Easy, quick and tasty way to cook red meat...
500g (medium size steak) beef sirloin - cut into strips
Marinade:
1/3 C of soy sauce (low sodium version)
3 T brown sugar
1 T sesame oil (buy it and it will last forever!)
2 cloves of garlic (minced)

Stir the sauce in a bowl, throw in the meat and let it sit for as long as you can manage (minimum is 20 minutes, which is fine bc you still have to cook rice.)

RICE - preference for jasmine rice, which tastes great and cooks in about 20-30 minutes. Make as many servings as you need and refer to the package for cooking info. Sometimes I cook the rice in organic beef stock - tasty!

VEG - pick whatever veg. you love and make it as a side dish

Before you cook the beef strips, pull them out of the sauce so that they can brown when they hit the HOT pan. Brown them up, then drop the heat to med-high, add the sauce and cook for a few minutes (medium) or a bit longer (well done.) Throw the meat and sauce on top of the rice, add the veg. side to the plate and go for it.

hitting the trail

Hi All.
Just got home from a trail run. I was excited to give it a go after being sick and it went really well. The beauty of trail running is that time just seems to disappear. In my effort to not overdo it in the wake of 2 weeks off, I decided to walk at 10 minutes in for about 1 minute. So I glanced at the timex when I thought I was 10 in and I was at 20??!! That's what I love about trail running. If you are able to focus, it can be an awesome sport. If you like tunes in your ears and tend to watch the world go by when you run, don't do it on a trail:) I also love the gear. Just bought the new salomon xt wings - wicked shoes. If you ever saw the amount of gear my wife and I have collected over the years, you would think you were standing in a trailhead store.
That's makes me think of today's words of advice...never regret spending money on good gear:)
R.

Women's rugby

Hi All.
A friend of mine coaches a high school girls rugby team. He recently went to bat for the team regarding unfair scheduling of the only playing field that the school has. Football had traditionally gotten the field and everyone else had to figure something else out. Long story short, the girls now get to practice on the field, as they should.
I thought about those girls when I saw the women's rugby team on the front page of the journal yesterday. It's great to see such a dedicated bunch of women get the credit they deserve. I'm just about to forward the journal link to my friend and perhaps he will pass it on to his team. It might serve as a bit of inspiration that they otherwise would never see.

Good job ladies.

Rodney.

Illness

Hi All.
I hate being sick! It slows everything down and sucks the wind out of your sails, no matter how hard you try to remain positive. I was down for almost 2 weeks and now that I'm back in the land of the living, I can't wait to start training and working again. Trouble is, and this is the lesson for today, it is SO easy to overdo everything when the sickness chains disappear that you can lead yourself right back to square one in no time. So, I will do my best to fight the urge to blast back at full speed and see if I can be smart about it. If there is another 2 week gap in my posts, you will know that I overdid it:)

Rodney.

Strength and Conditioning - technologically challenged

Hi All.
Many of my athletes will know that I was SO pleased with myself when I got the i-pod sound system for the program last season. I had finally stepped into the world of downloadable tunes. Granted, the first songs I put on there were from CD's, but, baby steps. Last week, I even took the amazing step of getting internet at home. I even downloaded an episode of Jamie Oliver that I hadn't seen. Finally, I am not embarassing my technologically advanced little brother with questions about VCR's and CD players (although I do still use a VCR.)
This should bring to light the fact that blogging is quite a leap for me. I'm really not that old, honestly, but I never bothered myself with computers and all that junk, I just played sports.
Also, keep in mind that if you can't make fun of yourself, you're too serious - that's the lesson for today:)

Cheers. Rodney.

immune system

Hi All.

It's getting to be cold season again! Lots of my athletes, friends and family are coming down with the first good head cold of the season. If you want to avoid these nasty little bugs, here are a few hints:
> SLEEP - try to get to bed and sleep for as close to 8 hours as you can as often as possible. If you have trouble sleeping, exercise!

> EAT - get your fruits and veggies. They provide the mirconutrients that keep your immune system 'topped up'.

> HYDRATE - keep the water coming to maintain a top notch immune system.

> Multivitamin and vitamin C - best brands are Shaklee and Usana. Take the recommended amount to keep your system at it's best.

> Wash your hands - obvious, but we skip it all the time.

soccer girls run it through

Hello All.

I, in my infinite wisdom, decided to 'lead' the soccer girls in a run last night. Granted, I did start out in the lead but that didn't last too long once the hard work started. Girls, you did an awesome job of the bench blast and I was really impressed by your efforts. For my part, I did make it back and I'm actually not that sore today - phew!

inspiration

Hi Folks.

Here is a link that just might get you working that little bit harder or perhaps make you appreciate just how hard you already work.

http://www.break.com/index/inspiration

The extra mile

Hi all,

For all those athletes who fight through the workouts and training, I want to express my appreciation for your efforts to push that extra mile. Know that the best performances are not always the fastest or furthest. They are often the ones that take the most effort. Finishing what is put before you, no matter how tough it is, is the mark of someone who will never let you down on the field.

Rodney.

H2O

Hello All.
For those of you who are involved in training camps this week, you need to concentrate on getting lots and lots of H2O into your body. Before practice, 1L minimum. During practice, finish off at least 1 full water bottle. After practice, 1 more water bottle then frequent drinks until you go again. The slightest decrease in your total hydration level will significantly decrease your performance on the field or court. Drink up.

Inspiration

Hi All.

My first blog. It is fitting that it comes on the heels of the start of training camps. The soccers started over a week ago and football got rolling on Saturday. I'm looking forward to seeing all the other teams as they get started. When I set up their programs in the spring, I try to plan toward August and it seems so far away. As with every off-season, camp jumps up much more quickly that expected.

Every August, I love witnessing the effort and dedication that the athletes put in at camp. It serves as an inpiration for me to work harder and train harder. I usually head home from a day of work and get the running gear on, just to push myself that little bit more.

Welcome back teams - game on!

Rodney.