With the spring sport seasons several months away, Fair Grove Girls Soccer athletes push through in off season to prepare and get better for the upcoming season ahead.
Krista Miller, the Fair Grove Girls Soccer Coach, explained how the offseason works and what is being done. “The offseason is the time for us to mentally and physically prepare for the challenges we are going to face during our competitive season. We take this time to start forming our relationship as a team, discovering who we are as a unit, what we want to accomplish, how we are going to motivate one another, work with one another and succeed.”
Coach Miller continued to express her excitement and what she’s looking forward to in the offseason. “I’m looking forward to seeing the girls form relationships with one another. To start building a positive atmosphere, that is coupled with motivation, determination, and the will to see their team succeed as a whole, not just as individuals.”
Stephanie Dunham (12), described her mentality for this off season, and the work behind training. “My mentality for this season is to make sure that I give the best that I can do every single day. I know that we as a whole are looking for progress above all else,” Dunham stated.
Dunham also stated the team’s motto for this season, “Our team motto for this year is ‘It’s not the will to win that matters – everyone has that. It’s the will to prepare to win that matters.’ – Paul “Bear” Bryant.”
Dunham continued to recall her favorite thing about this sport, which carries onto her senior year of off season. She stated, “My favorite part of soccer is the thrill of being on the field. During a game it’s like nothing else matters and for an hour and a half I am just out there giving it my all. It’s almost as if I forget everything around and that is my main focus.”
Finally Dunham explained her personal game, and what she wants to personally improve on, “I want to really focus on my cardio in the off season so that I can kind of combat my stamina in order to play better out on the field.”
The official day of the girls soccer offseason is January 8th. For now, the athletes are doing independent workouts and checking in with the coach every Friday. This will prepare the girls for the upcoming anticipation of the off season, and eventually spring girls soccer season.
