Boys soccer has begun preparation for the spring season with the start of green and yellow day practices.
So far, three Green Day practices have been held and conditioning practices took place the week of 2/14.
These training sessions are extremely important for the players because the turnaround between the winter and spring sports seasons is very quick and the team needs to get in shape and improve their technical ability in a short period of time.
“During Green Days, we have been doing drills that help us possess the ball from our teammates so that in games when we play other schools, we can have more possession and have a chance to score goals,” junior Muhajir Adem said.
Other activities the players participate in during practice include scrimmages and possession drills.
The preseason practices also give new players a chance to acclimate to the environment of the team and meet the coaches. With a combination of new players and returning players, it is important that the players can develop chemistry and learn about each other.
Official tryouts will be held during the week of 2/21.
During each day of the week, players who are trying out have the opportunity to show off their skills during the practices. During tryout practices, the players scrimmage and condition with sprints, suicides, and burpees.
After a couple days of tryouts, the cuts will be made.
By the end of that week, the cuts will be completed and an official roster will be confirmed. Once the roster is completed, practices will begin in preparation for the start of the season.
The Atom’s first match will be a scrimmage against West Potomac, followed by a scrimmage against Woodbridge.
The regular season opener will take place on 3/16 with an away game vs. Herndon.
The squad has an entire month to get in shape and adjust to the play style of the team before the season starts.
“I have been working to stay fit and have tried to be a consistent player,” junior Andrew Lizarazu Vasquez said.
The team hopes for improvement from a difficult season last year.
Covid-19 had a major impact on the amount of players that tried out for the team and brought many difficulties.
In addition, the roster was plagued with injuries which narrowed squad depth and made it much more difficult to win games.
However, the upcoming season is looking promising due to the fact that only a few seniors graduated from the team last year.
This means the bulk of the varsity roster already has experience playing in varsity games and many of the players have developed a lot in the past year.
Overall, the varsity roster should be very strong this season and will have a chance to win a lot of games.
With the realignment of the districts, the Atoms will face new competition this year, especially against competitive teams that they have not played against in a while.
The schedule for games within the National District will be busy as the team will play games every few games.
Because of this, the players need to make sure they are conditioned well, hence the importance of the conditioning and tryout practice days.