On The Road In Ohio

When it comes to being a division one-student athlete there are many things that one must learn to deal with; practice, lifting, game days and of course school. Many people admire and look up to what these athletes can achieve, and rightly so. Working at the level which most professional athletes do in terms of practice and games is a lot to ask, and then there is the matter of juggling school work along side that too. Here is just a preview into the daily life of a division one soccer player.  

When it comes to match days we unfortunately aren’t able to play every game at Engelmann field in front of our terrific home support. This year sees us host only eight of our 17 regular season games so adapting to being on the road is something that our very young team is starting to learn.

Our second trip to Ohio out of four in the space of five weeks saw us leave for Bowling Green State University on a Monday afternoon for a Tuesday night game. This meant some classes would be missed and many of the players were glued to their laptops on the coach trying to catch up on homework or readings that would be missed.

The normal match day routine consists of spending all the time on the bus before we arrive at the hotel for the night. Once at the hotel we pick a restaurant to go and eat at, usually something that can provide a good supply of healthy food loaded with carbohydrates in preparation for the game itself. The sleeping arrangements are then two to a room, there are no set room mate as the coach believes that each player should build a rapport with each individual team mate, so team chemistry can be improved. The mornings are then complied of breakfast at the hotel, a jog and stretch before a pizza and pasta based pre game meal at a local restaurant.

The game itself was one that we dominated from start to finish. All of the statistics were in our favor; possession, corners, shots on goals. This was probably one of our better performances this season. However the most important statistic is the score, and this is the one area we lost in. A 2-1 victory to Bowling Green State was a bitter blow for the effort we had but in and the nine-hour drive back from Ohio felt a lot longer.

Teams experience a lot of emotions throughout the season. It truly is a rollercoaster ride in terms of highs and lows. We will learn to bounce back from this defeat. I’m a person after all who goes by the motto “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger”.

Our next game is on the road again to Loyola University Chicago. Hopefully the team can learn from this tough pre conference schedule and begin the Horizon League on the right foot, with a win.