The Pendleton Panther

This weekend the Academy teams 18 and 16 went to Atlanta and to Alabama to play 2 away games. The weekend turned out to be very good for both teams. First game against Atlanta Fire the 16’s won 2-0 and the 18’s won 4-3. The second game in Alabama was suspended due to unfortunate weather conditions. But over all great weekend for both teams. Next week the game that was canceled will be played in Alabama, the game will be against Birmingham Fc, in witch the first game we tied 2-2. This time the team is pumped and motivated and ready to win. The team will drive 11 hours from Bradenton to Alabama and like 12 from Alabama back. Last time the team took 12 hours thanks to the bad weather conditions. But I am sure this time the conditions are going to be much better. So lets bring support to our Img soccer team and lets give them our best of luck and lot’s of support. So good luck Img.

My soccer team at IMG is heading to Phoenix, Arizona today to take part in the US Soccer Academy League Showcase. It is one of the biggest events of the year, and almost every college coach will be in attendance. The competition is very high, every team from our league across the nation will be there. Also, some U18 national teams will be there to play friendlies against each other. The showcase usually also has scouts form Europe watching. A solid performance at this showcase could catapult you into a propserous college career. It really is a huge opportunity. My team has a game on Saturday, Sunday and on Tuesday. Hopefully we get 3 wins which will look great in front of all the college coaches.

On Saturday, we had a game against South Carolina United.  We had played them before this season in Charleston, South Carolina.   The game began and about 10 minutes in they scored and we went one goal down. The goal wasn’t very good, it was a mix up between our defenders and the ball ended up in the back of the net.  It wasn’t long until we scored the equalizer.  From then on we took control of the game.  We dominated the possession and before half time converted once more to end the half at 2-1 to IMG.

In the second half, we continued our momentum in the first half and scored 2 more goals. The game ended 4-1. We have the highest point per game average in our conference and are doing very well at the moment. Our next game is in 2 weeks in Richmond, Virginia. We then travel to Atlanta the weekend after that.

This Saturday, at 3pm, my soccer team at IMG is playing against South Carolina United. We have played them once before, at their venue, and now it is at our home ground. We beat them in the previous affair 2-1. However, we should still be careful about this game becaus ethey were a strong side. They have two fast and strong forwards that are capable of high paced counter attacks. Behind the forwards, they have a creative player who plays in attacking midfield. If we can shut down those 3 players and be tight in defense when they counter attack then we should get a good result. The field at IMG is much better condition than the last field and will suit our playing style and will benefit us more, as we are a team that passes the ball around a lot and keeps possession. Overall, if we all bring our “A” game and keep the mistakes to a minimum, then we should have a comfortable victory this weekend.

On Monday, the IMG U18 team played against the US U17 National team. We were all really excited to have the opportunity to play against them and compare ourselves against the best opposition.

The game began and we started off really well. We had a few chances and had some good ball possession. As the game progressed the USA team gained momentum and started to give us some real pressure. We went one goal down in the first half and the half ended 1-0.

As the second half started, USA continued to pressure us and they saw a lot of the ball possession. However, as we got into the latter stages of  the half, we took control of the game and had a lot of smooth moves and attacking chances. We got very close to scoring several goals, but just couldn’t find the net. The last 15 minutes we were down their throats the entire time and could’ve easily found an equalizing goal. We weren’t  that lucky though, and the game ended 1-0.

It was a good result for us, because we were the underdogs and not much was expected of us against the national team.  We were a good opposition though and competed very evenly with them. They were the better side, but not by much.  We managed to make it a great game, and also a close one. The game was a good measuring stick for us, to see what level we are at and how much further we can go.

An example of how NOT to prepare for a match.

I have a soccer game on Sunday at noon.  There are certain things I need to do in order to prepare myself physically and mentally.  From Friday I need to start focusing on everything I do, from what I eat to what I do during the day and more.  First, sleep is very important.  I should be getting about 9 hours of sleep on Friday night and Saturday night.  Second, meals are very important.  I need to fuel my body with the correct types of food that will supply me with energy and strength.  Certain foods will also help repair my body. I should make sure that I eat lots of carbohydrates so that my body can build up and store energy.  Protein is important to strengthen and repair muscles.  The next step to getting myself ready for the game, is to keep physical activity to a minimum.  Friday’s training is cancelled so that we have relaxation time. A light jog and quick swim is good to loosen up the muscles and get rid of stiffness, but other than that I should try rest during the day on Friday and Saturday.   Finally, I should prepare myself mentally.  This can be done by meditating, visualization and maybe watching some videos of games.  I should also go over my job and roles in the game. After all of that, I should be in top condition to play on Sunday and have a good performance.

On Saturday, I left with my team on a bus at 9am. We had a long trip ahead of us all the way to Charleston, South Carolina.  We entertained ourselves with non-stop movies on the bus’s dvd player. We stopped about 2 and a half hours after we left for a meal at Subway.  We then drove a few more hours and eventually arrived at the hotel in Charleston at 8pm. The bus drive was an overall 11 hours.

We had dinner in the hotel that night and then went to bed early so that we were well rested for the game the next day.  Sunday morning we went to the game.  The pitch was very wet and was in terrible condition.  The first half of the game was very close but in the second half we changed our formation and that gave us the edge.  We managed to take the lead and go 1-0 up. We then scored a 2nd goal.  The game ended 2-0 and we had another victory under our belt.

We headed back to the hotel to shower and pack our things.  We then began our 11 hour hourney back to Bradenton and arrived at 1am on Monday morning.  It was a successful trip and we got the job done.

This is the third year that IMG Soccer is taking part in the US Soccer Academy League, which is the highest level of youth soccer in the nation. It is a national league with teams from every corner of the country. There is no other youth league in the United States that compares to the Academy League. All the best teams take part in it.

The way the league works is as follows: It is split up into ten divisions, for example, the Southeast division, which is the division IMG plays in. Our division has teams from Florida, Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina. Each division covers a couple of states and has about 8 – 12 teams. The top 3 teams from each division automatically qualify for the play offs. Each fourth placed team has a chance of qualifying as a wildcard, this is based on average points per game. Of all the teams in the play offs, only eight qualify for the National Finals which are held in Los Angeles. There is then a quarter-final, semi-final and then the final to determine which is the best team in the nation.

There are two age groups for this academy league, a U16 league and a U18 league. IMG has one team in each age group. I play on the U18’s and am proud to be on the Academy Team for IMG.

Things are going well in the Soccer Academy at this point. Both our U-18 and U-16 Academy League teams have qualified for playoffs at the end of June. This is a great accomplishment and means each team has done very well in their conference. Both teams will be staying to practice into the summer. The playoffs will be held in North Carolina. The top 32 teams in the country for both age groups will be there with eight teams advancing from each age at the end of playoffs. If either of our teams advances from the playoffs, more soccer will be in store because the Academy League finals are played in California in July. This is a great opportunity and privilege for both teams. It took all year to get to this point and hopefully all the training and hard work will pay off over the next couple of months. As we continue to work hard, the future looks bright.

So far this year we have played a total of three games.  Our first game we played away against brandon and we won the game 6-3.  As the first game playing together we felt that we accomplished our goal.  We applied almost everything that we had worked on in our training sessions throughout the past couple of weeks.  The week after we had played our first game was more of lighter practices because the upcoming weekend we had to play two games.  The first game was played at home against strictly.  We were not as prepared as we should of been for this game.  We just were not playing as a unit and ended up losing the game 5-2.  On the other hand we played away against lakeland and won 3-0.  For this game we played as a team and together.  Now we are preparing for our upcoming game the weekend away against HCU.

As summer comes to an end, players from all over the world including the United States, Mexico, Brazil, Spain, and the Bahamas begin to prepare for the upcoming year at IMG.  The first week of training is considered an open tryout so the coaches can evaluate the players and place them on the team that they think suits them best whether is be the u-14 team, u-16 CDL or academy team, u-17, or u-18 academy team.  Therefore, everybody is fighting for their own spot on the team of their choice.  During the week the players will have to play in scorching heat and perform a variety of different skills, such as playing in short sided games or withstanding fitness tests.  Also, it is just as difficult for the coaches, because they have to stand out in the heat and evaluate the players and place the players on the appropriate team.  At the end of the week coaches Jim, Tom and Ferdy and the rest of the soccer coaches will let the players know if they made the cut.