By: Sam Beishuizen, IUHoosiers.com (Archives)
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - The thing about summer workouts, Indiana head coach Todd Yeagley says, is that you can't get them back.
That's why his players have been focused on their offseason work this summer in Bloomington and spread throughout the country to prepare for the 2015 season.
Senior forward/midfielder Femi Hollinger-Janzen estimated that 10 players stayed on campus throughout most of the summer to fine-tune their games together.
On any given day, the 10 or so players would run drills together whether it be games of 5v5, drills to improve technical aspects of team or lifts in the weight room with Assistant Athletic Director for Strength and Conditioning Tom Morris.
With the start of a new season getting closer and official practice less than one week away, Hollinger-Janzen said he's excited for the whole team to be back together again.
"It's been a very good summer for all of us," Hollinger-Janzen said. "It's very important to get after it because if we didn't, the touch wouldn't be there. The fitness wouldn't be there. Just the general soccer IQ wouldn't be there. The summer is very important because you're just getting better."
While the players have been working on their own, Yeagley and his coaching staff have been retooling their roster.
Yeagley called the incoming freshman class the "most comprehensive" group he's brought in during his nearly six-year tenure at Indiana. The mix of potential and raw talent he's added combined with the experience the Hoosiers return has Yeagley eager to start on-field activity Aug. 12.
"There's a lot of anticipating," Yeagley said. "You're just waiting for these guys to show up. That's the hard part about being a fall sport is we don't have everyone here in the summer. We don't see them. We're talking to them, but they're with different teams, and it's our job to make sure they're doing their best to prepare but you literally just don't now until the first day of preseason."
The blind faith Yeagley puts into his players to be prepared is exciting, he said.
But it can also be frustrating.
At the start of every season, there's a range of players who come back ready to go and others who need a few practices to get into shape. The one thing Yeagley said he can't have is players who need an extended amount of time to get fit because the schedule doesn't offer any wiggle room.
The quicker everyone is back to full fitness, the more prepared the team will be for IU's exhibition opener Aug. 17 against Valparaiso.
"With the way the preseason is, we quickly have to get into big activities and into playing the game again because we don't have a lot of time," Yeagley said. "We have a lot of guys who have played, but we still have different holes that will be quickly evaluated. So we'll get into the big activities to try to get them to mesh."
When the season finally does get underway, the Hoosiers will be looking to build on a 2014 season that ended in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Hollinger-Janzen said he's confident his team has the pieces in place to once again return to the NCAA Tournament and compete for another Big Ten Championship. But just because the pieces are there in the preaseason doesn't mean anything is assured.
"Obviously, we can be a very good team," Hollinger-Janzen said. "But every day, we're improving. Every single day. Even if we're not on that day, we're improving other aspects of the game whether that be the physiological aspects of the game or even just like a small passing thing. Every day, we need to improve if we want to get where we want to be."
Go Hoosiers!
http://www.iuhoosiers.com/news/2015/8/7/MSOC_0807151550.aspx
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - The thing about summer workouts, Indiana head coach Todd Yeagley says, is that you can't get them back.
That's why his players have been focused on their offseason work this summer in Bloomington and spread throughout the country to prepare for the 2015 season.
Senior forward/midfielder Femi Hollinger-Janzen estimated that 10 players stayed on campus throughout most of the summer to fine-tune their games together.
On any given day, the 10 or so players would run drills together whether it be games of 5v5, drills to improve technical aspects of team or lifts in the weight room with Assistant Athletic Director for Strength and Conditioning Tom Morris.
With the start of a new season getting closer and official practice less than one week away, Hollinger-Janzen said he's excited for the whole team to be back together again.
"It's been a very good summer for all of us," Hollinger-Janzen said. "It's very important to get after it because if we didn't, the touch wouldn't be there. The fitness wouldn't be there. Just the general soccer IQ wouldn't be there. The summer is very important because you're just getting better."
While the players have been working on their own, Yeagley and his coaching staff have been retooling their roster.
Yeagley called the incoming freshman class the "most comprehensive" group he's brought in during his nearly six-year tenure at Indiana. The mix of potential and raw talent he's added combined with the experience the Hoosiers return has Yeagley eager to start on-field activity Aug. 12.
"There's a lot of anticipating," Yeagley said. "You're just waiting for these guys to show up. That's the hard part about being a fall sport is we don't have everyone here in the summer. We don't see them. We're talking to them, but they're with different teams, and it's our job to make sure they're doing their best to prepare but you literally just don't now until the first day of preseason."
The blind faith Yeagley puts into his players to be prepared is exciting, he said.
But it can also be frustrating.
At the start of every season, there's a range of players who come back ready to go and others who need a few practices to get into shape. The one thing Yeagley said he can't have is players who need an extended amount of time to get fit because the schedule doesn't offer any wiggle room.
The quicker everyone is back to full fitness, the more prepared the team will be for IU's exhibition opener Aug. 17 against Valparaiso.
"With the way the preseason is, we quickly have to get into big activities and into playing the game again because we don't have a lot of time," Yeagley said. "We have a lot of guys who have played, but we still have different holes that will be quickly evaluated. So we'll get into the big activities to try to get them to mesh."
When the season finally does get underway, the Hoosiers will be looking to build on a 2014 season that ended in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Hollinger-Janzen said he's confident his team has the pieces in place to once again return to the NCAA Tournament and compete for another Big Ten Championship. But just because the pieces are there in the preaseason doesn't mean anything is assured.
"Obviously, we can be a very good team," Hollinger-Janzen said. "But every day, we're improving. Every single day. Even if we're not on that day, we're improving other aspects of the game whether that be the physiological aspects of the game or even just like a small passing thing. Every day, we need to improve if we want to get where we want to be."
Go Hoosiers!
http://www.iuhoosiers.com/news/2015/8/7/MSOC_0807151550.aspx
