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Pac-10 In Print
• USC Women's Soccer USC Women's Soccer 2007
Written By: Kat Stolpa Most people expect a "bye" week to be a week to rest, relax, and recover. However, here at USC, we don't exactly follow the expectations of most people. While the coaching staff was kind enough to give us the entire day off on Monday after our win over Portland, we jumped right back into the swing of things with a Tuesday afternoon track workout. Upon arriving at the track, we were greeted with Ali's familiar voice chanting "cooooooper...coooooooper" (in reference to the most dreaded of our fitness tests, the "Cooper"). For those of you who don't know, the Cooper is a timed run that requires us to complete 7 1/4 laps in 12 minutes. Thankfully, we didn't have to complete a Cooper but instead we were given the challenge of running a six-minute mile followed by running ten 120-yard sprints. While not all of us finished in the allotted time, it was apparent that we put forth our best efforts, especially considering how hot it was on the track that day. Following the workout, we met with the team psychologist, Ken Ravizza and discussed our progress this season, what we felt we were doing right, and what we felt needed to be changed. As a whole, the meeting was very positive and encouraging. As a follow-up assignment, Ali asked us to put down on paper a few personal thoughts relating to personal performance and motivation, as well as team motivation. The remaining practices for the week were challenging but productive, and we certainly took advantage of not having to be fully rested for games on the weekend. Thursday afternoon, Ali told us that we would be meeting at the Coliseum for practice on Friday, which could only mean one thing: we were going to be running stadiums. We had done this as a team in the spring and had definitely been pushed to our limit. I don't think there is any way to describe the pain that is elicited as you climb those last few (seemingly endless) steps. In a new twist, Ali and our strength coach, Bailey, came up with the idea of having us juggle our mini soccer balls in between our first few reps. Once again, running the stadium proved to be quite a challenge for the girls. However, this second time around, it seemed like a whole new team was ascending the stairs. Instead of resentful, every girl seemed determined to complete the workout without uttering one word of complaint and without taking one unnecessary break. We all left the stadium that day with a feeling of pride in ourselves and in each other, along with some very tired legs. With our nonconference schedule now complete, we have officially closed the book on the first half of our season and are ready to move onto the next: the Pac-10 Conference. While we are proud of what we've accomplished thus far, our focus now is on what lies in front of us, one game at a time. Hopefully we can take the lessons we've learned and build upon them as we continue to work towards our goal of being the best that we can be. Don't forget to follow the opening of the Pac-10 Conference this weekend, as I'm sure there will be plenty of exciting games to follow! Thank you for your support of USC soccer and FIGHT ON! Kat Stolpa
Previous Student-Athlete Blogs
August 2008:
2007-2008 School Year:
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