My situatio

[stevem3411]

I love everything about the game of soccer, and have really fell in love with it in the past few years. I am 17, have just graduated high school and i am looking to walk on to a D-3 school this fall.

I captained my high school team and we made it to the semi finals, farther then any team from my highschool has went in over 30 yrs. I played sweeper for the first time in my life, and was all conference. I dont mean to sound cocky but i feel like you should be a little cocky in order to be succesful in any competitive sport.

Heres my problem: I had knee problems that i ignored throughout my senior year season, and by january the pain was unbearable, and i couldnt play through it. I constantly tried to come back too early for my club team (which i payed a nonrefundable 900$ for), and high school track. I am still recovering from my patellar femoral syndrome, and will problably not be healthy untill mid july.

In order to make this team, I am going to have to beat out many recruits who have been brought in by the coach, and who have been playing year round, improving their game and getting into shape.

My question is what should i do in order to become a D-3 player? Ive been lifting weights but havent been able to stay in shape or do too much lower body excersises, because of my knee problems. I also havent been able to play in a competitive game enviornment since november.

What is vital in making the team, and how can i do so?

thanks

[arsenalfc08]

I really don't want to discourage you but its going to be hard. Ignoring those injuries did not help you by any means.

Honeslty get as much rest as possible and then I would work on some intense training. You may be able to do some light stuff, juggling, some dribbling.

I sugget going to a doctor and seeking his/her opinion on how your knee is doing and what type of training you can do now.

It will be tough but if you have the right attitude it may pay off.

[NHRef]

step 1: do whatever it takes to get the knee healthy. You are stuck with that knee for the rest of your life. Speaking as a mid-40's guy who ignored knee pain in high school, the pain got BAD at this point in my life and bouncing bck from surgery is a LONG process at my age and my knee will probably never be full strength again.

step 2: try out for the team

step 3: play for the team if you make it, if not, talk with the coach, tell him you'll be back next year and get in game shape for next year. Play in the intramural level and maybe get noticed.

[stevem3411]

I sugget going to a doctor and seeking his/her opinion on how your knee is doing and what type of training you can do now.
Last time i saw the doctor about it he said if you play on it wont get worse, and he said give it rest, and if you want, go to physical therapy for a month.

Eventually, by around may, i went to pt because he was wrong about rest and that it wouldnt get worse. the pt helped alot and now i just have to do it myself, i know all the exercises, and i do them at home.


step 3: play for the team if you make it, if not, talk with the coach, tell him you'll be back next year and get in game shape for next year. Play in the intramural level and maybe get noticed.
The intramural level could be beneficial to me? I didnt think that there was any chance of getting noticed, and i was planning on looking for a men's league to join if i didnt make the team this year, thinking that the intramural level was too low to really help me get better.

[bigredfutbol]

The intramural level could be beneficial to me? I didnt think that there was any chance of getting noticed, and i was planning on looking for a men's league to join if i didnt make the team this year, thinking that the intramural level was too low to really help me get better.

Is there a good men's league right there? Intermural may have been suggested because it's right there on campus, and at a D3 school (those who know better, please correct me if I'm wrong) the program may be small enough that it wouldn't be unusual for a coach to keep an eye out for any on-campus talent that might have slipped through the cracks.

[arsenalfc08]

Well if you good to go then you should start.

I don't know a whole lot about knee injuries so I would take these as suggestions and adapt accordingly.

Obviously soccer is a running sport but you don't want to run long distance, it will get you no where. Soccer is all about changing of speed,direction,etc. I would do some fartlek or intreval running, sprints, suicides, hill running. If you really want to do some long distance running do 3-5 miles once a week at a slow pace. This is aerobic excercise that will get your body and lungs in shape.

Work with the ball as much as possible. Even if its just 10 minutes of juggling before going somewhere. Work on the basics shooting (especially your weak foot, you'll want to be at least decent with your weak foot), dribbling, passing, etc.

If you want a fitness guide I have a pdf of the 2005 Michigan Mens Soccer team summer fitness program.http://www.umsoccer.com/upload/05program.pdf

With your knee injury cross training may not be a bad idea. Swimming is very low impact and fun (at least for me it is). It also really works your lungs. I swam in the summer on a team for years and after a few months of doing it never had any asthma problems while running cross country or playing soccer. If you have a ymca or pool nearby just go and swim some strokes, preferably at a time where you can swim uninterrupted and not have to worry about moving around people. Most ymca's around here have at least 1-2 lanes reserved only for people who want to do some lap swimming.

With your knee if you start to feel any pain or discomfort I would stop. Keep doing the excercises that the pt told you.

Also I would really suggest doing some pick up games or indoor games if you can. Get some friends together and play some 5 or 6 a side or have 1 or 2 friends practice with you.

[stevem3411]

Thanks for all the help... That is a good pt about the intramural league on the small campus.
The thing about indoor and short sided games is that i start to get too competitive and cant help but ignore my knee pain, so when juggling or training i try to stick with doing it alone in fear of pushing myself too hard, which i tend to do too much.

[arsenalfc08]

Thanks for all the help... That is a good pt about the intramural league on the small campus.
The thing about indoor and short sided games is that i start to get too competitive and cant help but ignore my knee pain, so when juggling or training i try to stick with doing it alone in fear of pushing myself too hard, which i tend to do too much.

I understand I get competitive as well. Good luck with everything ,keep us updated I'd like to know what happens.

I know a guy that plays d3, I haven't talked to him since he graduated but I know he's there lol.

I would see if your school has an intramural league or any type of soccer even if its indoor or futsal. Have you talked to the coach at the school and found out if he is going to have open tryouts and when there going to be?

[stevem3411]

I know its open tryouts and i know he knows im trying out, bc my hs coach contacted him about me, and he asked a freind of mine who plays for the team about me, but he hasnt contacted or talked to me. Yes, they do have an intramural league, so if i cant get in soccer shape in time to make the team i will probably resort to that and look for other places/leagues to play in throughout the year.

But thanks again for the advice and ill let you guys know how things work out for me.

[NHRef]

All you can do is tryout and go from there.

My intramural comment was mostly simply to keep touching the ball. Yes the level could be low, but the majority of the players are probably ex-high school players of varying skills who didn't play in college for assorted reasons, not always skill related.

They MIGHT keep tabs occassionally, but who knows.

You need to play somewhere if you dn't make the team.

[nobody]

You don't wanna hurt yourself and the timing may just be bad for this year. Is your club team pretty good? Perhaps you could just go to school, let your knee heal and then get back onto your club team. If it's a strong local team, I can't imagine it would be that hard to get a D-3 coach to stop by and watch a couple games. Most decent clubs I have been around are always getting players recruited. And, I would hope that if you're paying almost a grand to play there, the club should be good enough that you can get a small school coach in town to stop by and have a look.

[stevem3411]

Well no matter what I'm going to this school and i am commuting, so finding another club team would be possible, I'm not really too worried about being recognized by another coach, so the 900 dollars for the college showcase team i was on doesnt seem worth the money, and i am pretty sure i could find a men's league alot cheaper still with a high level of play.

But yes, I am going to take it one step at a time whether or not im going to be fit enough to make the team, I'll only know after the august tryouts, but if worse comes to worse, i will play on the intramural team and hopefully a men's team and by next year be in the best soccer shape of my life.