Yoga Boot Camp for Soccer Players
An old friend, Jake, is the head coach of a high school soccer (football) program in the area. It's the time of year for boot camp, when dozens of lucky high schoolers spend hours upon hours running around, kicking and heading balls, trying to impress the coaches and top the other players on the field. Jake asked me if I'd like to put together a group of yoga teacher trainees to run a few thirty to forty-five minute sequences for his prospective players. It sounded like a fun challenge, so I agreed.
Because I was cogitating about other things, however (namely, a new job and back-to-back vacations), I forgot to ask my fellow students at the Yoga Center. When I arrived at the football field on Monday, I was alone, my freshly shaved head reflecting the afternoon sun, my motorcycle boots clunking beneath me as I walked around the track toward the bleachers. I stared at the full field of kids running in swarms around soccer balls. It was overwhelming. Amidst the hive of activity, I noticed that there were a few distinct groups of players on the field.
"Ah," I thought to myself. "Jake's team must be one of these groups."
I spotted Jake in the bleachers and flagged him down. It had been a while since we'd seen each other. Both of us had lost weight, and he didn't recognize me at first, thinking I was some punk biker looking for water. After we greeted each other, I asked him to point out his team on the field.
"That's it," he said, pointing at the field.
"Which ones?"
"Everyone."
"Oh."
I think I audibly gasped. Jake may have mentioned at one point that it would be a large group of kids, but the idea never registered with my conscious mind. Until I saw them all in front of me. Ninety kids. Ninety. Nine. Tee. Kids.
"That's a lot of people," I said dumbly.
"Did you bring anyone else with you?" He asked.
"Um..." I kicked the cushioned tarmac with the toe of my boot.
"You still want to do it?"
I leaned over the edge of the precipice, took a deep breath, and leaped. "Sure. Let's do it."
"I wasn't sure if you were going to make it, so I've got something planned for today. You want to come back tomorrow and do it?"
I was secretly relieved to have one more day to plan. I returned the next day with a more formal outline. When the time came to begin, Jake told everyone to remove their shoes and socks. The looks on those high schoolers' faces was priceless. What a strange thing to be told, I'm sure, when all their short soccer careers they have worn those cleats and shin guards for everything, probably even to bed at night.
The group of ninety kids formed five lines of about twenty barefoot players on each line, stretching from sideline to sideline. It was an awesome and intimidating sight. I turned to face the group, closed my eyes for a moment, took a deep breath and began. I had to yell to be heard. For the first ten minutes some of the other coaches paced the rows and repeated the instructions, but eventually we found a groove and I was able to communicate clearly without the other coaches' help.
The kids were surprised (vocally, at times) by how challenging these poses could be. Admittedly, I focused on core-strengthening poses and movements, which made it feel more like boot camp than yoga. Still, It was fun to see how earnestly the majority of the kids approached the challenge, without judgement or cynicism.
During the "Finding Your Teacher's Voice" class at the yoga center, our teacher had told us that the temptation as new instructors is to say too much. That's certainly true for me. I have to resist the urge to get carried away when I lead a class. The challenge is to communicate a lot with as little as possible and let the poses speak for themselves. Shouting yoga poses to a group of ninety teenagers was the best way I can imagine to encourage a small budget of words. I had to strip out all of the flowery metaphors and grand philosophical musings and stick to the basics. What goes where and how?
By the end, my voice was hoarse, and the athletes were beat. That last round of boat pose left all but a few hearty kids collapsed on the ground, staring at the blue sky, wondering why they ever thought that yoga would be a nice break from all that running.
Soccer Team Core Practice
- Supta Baddha Konasana with 3-part breathing
- Leg Lifts
- Twisting Leg Lifts
- Wind Releasing Pose - both legs
- Bicycle Crunches
- Roll 3 times up to...
- Table
- Arm and leg extension + crunches
- Awkward Airplane - both sides
- Down Dog
- Chaturanga pushups
- Cobra
- Down Dog to Forward Fold
- 3 x Half Sun Salutes with arms forward
- 2 x Sun Salutation C with leg crunches (Chair, right leg crescent warrior, high-low plank, up dog, down dog, leg crunches, left leg crescent warrior, forward fold, chair)
- Crescent Warrior - forward lean crunches
- Warrior III - leg crunches
- Low Lunge
- Revolved Side Angle
- 5 x Lift to Revolved Crescent Warrior
- Revolved Side Angle
- Side Plank - Leg Lifts and Thread the Needle
- Vinyasa
- Repeat 16 - 22 on other side
- Dolphin Dog - Dolphin Plank pushups
- Walking the Dolphin Dog
- Cobra
- Locust - Superhero
- Vinyasa
- Full Boat - cross-ankled lifts
- Full Boat - Half Boat crunches
- Vinyasa
- Full Boat - side to side
- Reverse Table
- Full Boat - scissor legs
- Bridge Lifts
- Supta Baddha Konasana Lifts
- Supine Twist - both sides
- Savasana
