OK...no snow on the ground this week (so far, knock wood)!

Despite it being COLD, there will be GK training at Colver Field - word of mouth it to the folks who don't spend much time online, plz!

We always talk about building and maintaining our fitness base. This will be the first of a long line of posts with tips, hints, and recommendations from the Pirate soccer staff to the teams for both fitness and touch maintenance during the off-season.

Stamina - with many of the Phoenix players expected to go the full match without a sub, keeping a decent stamina base is crucial. Towards this end, during the DEEP off season (ie: now), players who can get some running in (either at the school track or on a road) are advised to try a 2 mile run twice a week with under 13 minutes as a boys' target and under 16 minutes for the girls. Once you have yourself at that threshold, feel free to set individual goals to cut time.

Another running challenge for yourself involves some interval work: At a field or at the track, do laps with 1/2 the lap being a mid-pace jog, 1/4 being a sprint, and 1/4 being a brisk walk. Try to do 8 laps in this fashion - it should take you about 20 minutes.