Friday was the first day of the combine for a majority of the players selected to attend. The goalkeepers were run through a special session on Thursday and Friday morning. While the rest checked in and prepared for the what will be a grueling weekend.
Joshua Borja, fromCal S tate-Chico runs through a drill |
Each team started with an team work out, directed by their respective coaches. Most dealt with footwork drills and some small group passing skills. Most finished the 70 minute session with small scrimmage matches within there own teams.
Next up was the fitness test. Players were timed on the 40 meter dash using a computer and marker set up that timed not only the 40 meter distance time, but the 5 meter, 10 meter and 25 meter distances. This give a more accurate view of a players explosive speed as well as acceleration. Once that was completed player completed the Yo-Yo Intermittent Recovery Test
Aboubacarim Ndaw from Senegal (blue) battles Thomas McClean from Scotland |
As part of their evaluations, each player wore a bra-like device underneath their jerseys that held a small sensor that recorded several vitals and the movement during their match. Also, video that will be integrated with dartfish software was recorded. Hopefully we can provide more information and possibly an example of this unique technology in the next few days.
As to the matches themselves, USL is providing an excellent recap on the matches. head over to http://www.uslsoccer.com/ or follow them live at twitter @USLpro. Also check out the great feature stories on several players as well as some video clips.
The final day of the combine is tomorrow with three more games played in the morning. The waiting game then starts for many players. Best of luck to all them.
3 comments:
Hey, thanks for posting this. I can't find any good information on the combine anywhere else online.
No problem Brendan, I hope to have something else up late tonight. Also www.uslsoccer.com has quite a few article up as well
Great job Mikey! I wish that I would have been able to get out there this weekend. It just wasn't in the stars...
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