By Michael Willson
At Virginia Wesleyan College, fall sport teams are currently working hard and competing with other schools. While they are competing, winter and spring sport teams are also working hard with fall training.
Fall training gives winter and spring sports teams the opportunity to practice and get into shape before the actual season starts. Most teams practice at least four days a week and work on a combination of conditioning and practicing on the court or on the field.
“During the fall, (the basketball team goes) five days a week. Normally, we have weightlifting in the morning three days a week, then on the other days we have open gym in the C-MAC,” senior guard/forward for the Men’s Basketball team Nick Doyle said.
The different teams have different objectives for what they focus on during training. For example, the Women’s Basketball team is focusing on weight-lifting and anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury prevention as opposed to open gym.
“For us, it’s an important thing leading into our season. We really have to look at it as an injury prevention program, in that they have a good base condition level and they have a base strength level. Especially in the jump program, we talk about form and they’re really being taught how to land,” Women’s Basketball head coach Stephany Dunmyer said.
Coaches use the fall as a time for teaching in addition to practicing. That way, the teams can know what to expect once the season starts.
“We can also teach a lot in the fall and get all the teaching out of the way. We discuss how we want our defense and how we want our offense. When we go in the spring we can get down into the more playing atmosphere. I know they’re in shape. I know they’re doing the little things. When it comes to January, we will all be on the same page and we will all be conditioned,” Women’s Lacrosse head coach Meagan DiCave said.
“In order to work around everyone’s class schedules, most teams practice early in the morning. Some teams starts practice as early as 6 a.m. It can be difficult for some of the athletes to get up early, but the desire to have a successful season motivates them.
“It can be hard to motivate anyone to get up early, especially if it’s raining and your roommate next to you is sleeping. I think that practicing in the afternoons would be great, but a lot of the girls have night classes. So, it’s tough, but they all make a commitment and they’re all there so it makes my job a lot easier,” DiCave said.
“It can be hard to motivate anyone to get up early, especially if it’s raining and your roommate next to you is sleeping. I think that practicing in the afternoons would be great, but a lot of the girls have night classes. So, it’s tough, but they all make a commitment and they’re all there so it makes my job a lot easier,” DiCave said.
Fall training is especially helpful with staying in shape. By training in the fall, the teams are well prepared once the season starts.
“Normally if you don’t train, your body gets a little bit out of shape. With a lot of sports, for baseball particularly, there’s a lot of muscle memory and you want to keep giving your body that repetition,” junior shortstop Corey King said.
Fall training is not just important for staying in shape, it is also important in preparing the teams to face their competitors.
“(Men’s lacrosse plays) in the best conference in the country, so we really wouldn’t stand a chance if we didn’t train as hard. We want to be the best and there are a lot of other guys who want to be the best too,” junior midfielder Josh Davis said.
With all of the hard work and training the winter and spring teams are doing in the fall, they can anticipate a strong and exciting season for the Virginia Wesleyan community.
“When you come to see us play, we’re going to be at a very high effort level. We’re going to have great team chemistry and I think that’s going to make it exciting to watch,” Dunmyer said.
