As the Liberty boys’ soccer season is starting to arrive, the coaches have begun conditioning after school to prepare for this season’s boy’s soccer. On Monday and Wednesday, they have conditioning and on Tuesdays and Thursdays, they have weight training indoors, to prepare the boys for the physicality of playing soccer. We spoke with Coach Gaines and he told us that his expectation for his players this season is to put in all their effort. “Not everyone can be the perfect player but if they try to be the best they can that is all that matters,” said Gaines 

His goal for this season is to make sure everybody learns something new, and that everybody leaves as a better person and player. He is the one in charge of the boy’s conditioning, and he separates the underclassmen and the upperclassmen. He makes the Juniors and Seniors run first because they set an example as they have experience playing for Liberty’s teams.  Then the sophomores and freshmen run. After they finish their laps the training that they start doing passes. Passing is a key feature of soccer as it can create chances for the team to score. They each grab a partner and pass to each other. after about 10-15 minutes of passing, Coach Gaines tells them to grab a group of 4 and get ready for 2 to verse 2. With one duo defending and one duo attacking. The point is for both duos to learn about defense and attack, and after they finish, depending on whether they couldn’t defend or score a goal, they learn to see what they can improve on. They take about 20 minutes, so everyone can take a turn and learn what they can do as a better defense or a better attacker.

After they finish the 2 on 2 warm-up they decide to have a scrimmage. What they do is they use half the football field to learn how to pass the ball, and how to move with the ball. It helps you with your pace and stamina. “The reason he gives lots of warm-ups such as lunges is to prepare players and to prevent injuries such as hamstring or hip injuries,” explained Gaines For
scrimmages, Coach Gaines says that it helps players that haven’t touched a ball since last season to catch up and it helps with communication. The players really enjoy conditioning, because it helps them with things they need to improve on which makes them better for their team. We spoke with some of the players and they said that conditioning is a great workout, it helps them by getting better overall and stronger so they can compete for the boys’ soccer team. Soccer is a difficult sport as it can have many challenges so the team has to overcome these together, as conditioning starts, the players will be prepared for the upcoming tryouts.