There are quite a few services available to families and athletes that will help prospective college soccer players reach their goal of a college socc
There are quite a few services available to families and athletes that will help prospective college soccer players reach their goal of a college soccer roster spot. But what do these athletes do next? How do they prepare for the first pre-season training camp?
College soccer is a Fall sport, and that means pre-season training begins well before the typical freshman “welcome weekend” and move-in day for the general student body. Before new college soccer players have a chance to get used to campus life and dorm living, they’re thrust into the most strenuous training scenario they’ve ever encountered, without the comfort of home every night.
College soccer coaches always distribute summer workout plans to their athletes, expecting everyone to follow the instructions so that every player is in top physical shape on the first day of pre-season. A workout plan is a great starting point, but how can athletes (especially incoming freshmen) prepare themselves for college soccer?
Enter ATHLETEOLOGY and the Accelerator Bootcamp.
Athleteology was founded by Colin McAtee, a former soccer standout at the University of Michigan, and before that, Surf Soccer Club and Torrey Pines High School. (See more about Colin here.) Colin recently founded Athleteology’s bootcamp to give new college soccer players a strong mental and physical foundation as they enter their first college soccer pre-season.
I recently interviewed a college soccer player who is about to begin his first pre-season at an NCAA DI school. (He has asked that I not share his name.) This player recently finished Colin’s Athleteology Accelerator Bootcamp to help prepare for his first college soccer pre-season.
Here’s what he thought of the program:
Q: What did you think Athleteology was going to be like before you started the program with Colin?
A: I thought it was going to be a lot of planning for the beginning of my freshman year of college — soccer specifically, but not limited to just soccer.
Q: What did you discuss in your first session with Colin?
A: Discussed a lot of the mental side of things as far as going into your first preseason goes. How to set “SMART” goals for yourself, how to achieve them, and tips on how to make your first few weeks easier.
Q: Was it a phone call? A video chat?
A: It was a video chat.
Q: Did he give you tasks to complete before your 2nd session?
A: Yes. He told me to come back with a set of three goals for myself, that we would then analyze in the next session.
Q: How did the sessions progress? Did you discuss different topics as the sessions went on?
A: It progressed well. I enjoyed being able to talk to Colin. We discussed time management, fitness, health, diet, sleep, etc.
Q: Would you say that Athleteology was worth the time you put into it?
A: Definitely. I learned so much more than I thought I had known already.
Q: Would you say that Athleteology would be good for all players about to enter college soccer?
A: Yes, because incoming freshmen have a LOT to learn before they go into their preseason/first season. I am definitely going into my first training sessions with much more information and tips to help myself out.
Q: What did you learn that you didn’t know before?
A: Time management is key. Diet is a HUGE thing to focus on. Fitness tests are just as scary as I thought.
Q: What was the best part of the Athleteology process?
A: Being able to talk to a very open-minded and easy going person, about issues/experiences that he has gone through as well. Colin knew what he was talking about and made sure that I knew that.
Q: Do you feel like you’re entering college soccer better prepared because of Atheteology?
A: Yes, I have saved a lot of the material that Colin gave me, and material that we came up with throughout the sessions. I will definitely be regularly looking at all of it as a reference
Q: Did you find yourself wanting something more or different once you were done? Is there something else you would have liked out of the program?
A: Not really. I enjoyed it.
Q: What’s Colin like to work with / talk to?
A: Awesome. He’s a very relaxed and easy guy to talk to. He definitely was not intimidating or demeaning, so it felt easy to run some ideas or thoughts by him.
