Favero has Bobcats on track for stellar ’09

After the best season in GCSU soccer history, head coach Juan Favero and his players aren’t interested in resting on their laurels and focusing on past accomplishments.

Soccer is a sport which relies heavily on its players being at a high fitness level, and the offseason is where hard work and dedication produce tangible results.

“We’re focusing on player development and fitness,” Favero said. “The girls are seeing results, getting quicker and stronger.”

Morgan Cobb, an All-Peach Belt defender who will be a senior leader this fall, described a typical week for Bobcat soccer in the spring.

“Along with our team practices, we’ve got the ‘rule of six’ which has to do with the amount of time Coach is allowed to spend with the team,” Cobb said. “So basically we work in small groups divided by position.”

Cobb described her role as a rising senior in the offseason.

“If I work as hard as I can and come back in the fall and show that I am fit and ready,” Cobb said, “then how great is that to be that example for the younger players to realize how important it is?”

Another key element of training is the ropes routine which has become popular among GCSU coaches.

“Ropes is Tuesday and Thursday, and it’s killer,” Cobb said. “But we work hard and kill it every time.”

To keep the players in game mode, the Bobcats play several spring games spread throughout March and April.

“Basically the offseason is divided into two phases; the fitness element, with speed, agility, explosiveness and individual technical work, and the spring games,” Favero said. “The games are where we work on new formations and see what works.”

Cobb noted the team’s approach to these exhibition matches.

“We actually are taking the games seriously,” Cobb said. “Since losing the seniors and with players getting hurt, we are playing smarter.”

Along with the outstanding returning group of players, Favero has added six incoming freshmen to the talented roster. The class of ’13 will have their work cut out for them as they push for playing time.

“The freshmen only have two weeks to show what they’ve got,” Favero said. “Unless they come to our summer camps, we really won’t know what we’ve got. They have to show up ready and prove themselves, because we hope to have them contribute.”

Cobb trusts her coaches to make the right personnel decisions.

“We don’t decide if they play or not,” Cobb said. “The coaches clearly saw things and wanted them here bad enough so they have faith in them.”

As a former incoming freshman, Cobb shared her views of the transition.

“Coming from high school to college is a whole new world,” Cobb said. “But when you want (to play) bad enough as a freshman, you do it all to prove your talent.”

The Bobcats host two summer camps, one each in June and July. The 2009 season, likely to be yet again the best in school history, begins about two weeks from the start of classes.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Apr 10 2009. Filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry