Keeping Up with the Martlets
Team Journal
“Look to your left. Look to your right. Look behind you. Look in front of you. This is your team ladies. We support each other, we push each other, we love each other.” ~Coach Laurent Fayen
Thursday, September 3rd, 2015
It’s
hard to believe that it’s already Week 2 of Preseason! The days have flown by,
and yet it feels like the team has been together for nearly a month already.
The Martlets have quickly adapted to the volume and intensity of daily
practices, and the team is now ready to face more challenging practices in the season
ahead.
A
quick recap of our progress so far:
The
focus of Week 1 was primarily fitness and establishing a firm grasp on the
basics. Day 1 began with a team run up Mont Royal. Varying levels of fitness on
the team were immediately apparent as the group gradually broke into different
paces. Laurent encouraged the girls to stick together, pointing out that we’re going
to get through this season as a team, not as individual players. It was a powerful speech for the first day,
and certainly set a strong precedent for teamwork that has come to define the
rest of our work during Preseason training.
 |
| Le Chalet (The Lookout), Mont Royal |
The
following days followed a similar theme—lots and lots of running, sprinting, and agility drills. The coaches also put an emphasis on
muscular endurance, and incorporated strength and core conditioning exercises
into daily fitness sessions. On top of these daily fitness practices (normally
at 6:30am), the Martlets would have a field practice in the afternoon or
evening.
On
Day 5, the Martlets welcomed a pleasant change of scenery in the form of a spin
class led by Laurent’s wife, Martha. The
class took place at Le Club Sportif MAA, a private fitness club in downtown
Montreal that Laurent works at and generously allows the Martlets to use. Early on Friday morning, the team filed into
a small, dimly lit room lined with stationary bikes. Most of the team had never
participated in a spin class before, and had no idea what to expect. Martha helped the team adjust the bikes and
then proceeded to lead the team through an interval workout on the bikes. A disco ball spun from the ceiling, sending
colored lights darting around the room, and music blasted as the team started
spinning away. Although very fun, the
spin class turned out to be a brutally tough
fitness session. Legs burned, abs shook,
and stepping off the bikes at the end felt like floating on air. Still, it was significantly more fun and
interesting than running fitness drills around Forbes field, and the team left
happy and grateful for Martha’s time.
 |
| Spin Class at MAA |
Day
6 presented the team’s first opportunity to play a full game as a team. The Martlets played the Montreal Adult Field
Hockey league in a series of small games on Saturday. This provided a perfect opportunity for rookies to experience a University-level of play, as well as an opportunity for coaches and returning players to get a feel for player chemistry on the field. The men and women on the Adult League were
formidable opponents, but the new team put up a solid fight, proving that the
past week of tireless training was paying off. Notable strengths during these games were movement off the ball and overall
team dynamic. A special shout-out goes
out to rookies Tannis and Tania who showed off some killer ball handling on the
attack, and to Jeanne who played a fantastic offensive game at mid.
As
Week 2 now comes to a close, the team has witnessed some serious progress. The Martlets went on a second mountain run
yesterday morning, and this time around, the team managed to stick together for
the entirety of the run. Rookies are
learning fast and returners are rapidly adjusting to a virtually new team. Fitness is improving exponentially, skills
are developing by the day, and the level and intensity of play is increasing
consistently. The Martlets have established
chemistry on and off the field. For a
group of girls who first met only 2 weeks ago, this is incredibly impressive
and bodes well for the coming weeks.
