Training
For those I haven’t met, my name is Andrae Williamson. I am the boys soccer coach here at Cross Lanes Christian School. I wanted to provide some information to parents of young men who are interested in trying out for the boys varsity soccer team. As I said last year in my letter to parents, the opportunity to coach is a gift from God and a means by which God is allowing me to serve. I am thankful for the opportunity to coach and work with these young men. However, it will take all of us (you, me, and your son/s) working together, under the guidance of the Lord, to make this season a success. I’m looking forward to working with you for the benefit of your son and the glory of God. A lot will remain the same this season, but we will work hard to improve upon the great foundation left by the graduating class while maintaining some of the long-standing traditions of CLCS soccer. Inevitably, some aspects will be different especially with the fact that we currently dealing with a global pandemic. Also, I plan to get the guys highly conditioned and working together as one cohesive unit as soon as possible. We lost a lot of experience with the outgoing class, but I have a good core group returning so the expectations are still very high. I’m also inviting every high school boy to come try out for the team, even if you have never played soccer. Below you will find important information to help everyone get ready for the upcoming season.
Mark your calendars – tryouts/practice will begin Monday, August 3rd at 6:00pm. CLCS policy requires players to have ten practices (including scrimmages) to be eligible for regular season play. This is for their protection and safety. Please work to arrange vacations prior to the start of season, practices are mandatory. Our regular practice times will be 5:30-7:30pm, August and September. We will switch to 6-730p.m at the start of October. There will be days (example – Wednesdays before school starts) when we will have a need to practice at a different time. I will communicate to you and your son when practice times change well in advance of the practice session.
Please encourage your son to get in shape this summer – soccer is a physically demanding sport! He will significantly improve his chances of making the team, contributing to the team’s success, reducing his chance of injury, and improving his overall experience if he is well conditioned prior to August 3rd. Running 2-4 miles every other day is a great goal and to be quite honest – a minimum expectation, in addition to ball work and strength training.
This summer we will be having a 3-week summer work out period from July 6- 23 to help the boys get in shape and work on the technical aspect of the game, before they get to preseason, these workouts are a great way for your son to develop physically and mentally, while meeting teammates and developing team chemistry. (Middle school boys’ grade 8 and 7th are welcome at these practices).
I have also put together a very detailed, off-season, soccer specific conditioning program that is non-mandatory but also highly recommended. This is available upon request. For additional coaching recommendations and or advice please feel free to contact me anytime. The assistant coach and 2 of the senior boys also offer private lessons for all ages for those interested.
Due to the impact of this pandemic we will be taking extra precautions to keep our players and coaches safe. We will always do everything in our power to maintain a clean and safe environment. We will be following the guidelines set forth by the state and school for return to play best practices. Each parent will get a copy of the guidelines we follow and is expected to read it and sign along with each player then return it before they are allowed participate in any practice held by any of our coaches. For additional safety we have also required all our coaches to complete a COVID19 awareness course we encourage all parents who want to help with the team in any way to complete this free course.
Below is a breakdown of additional costs related to soccer. Please note these are approximations and given as a reference for you:
Team Fun Day: $25-30/player
Team T-shirts (2) and Socks (2 pair game socks): $70-75/player
Soccer Trip: $200 player – at this time no trip is scheduled; however ideas are being evaluated.
My cell phone number is 304-410-9861 and my personal email is coachakw05@gmail.com
Please do not hesitate to contact me with questions or items you would like to discuss.
Please remember, next fall your help will be greatly needed to make the season a success. I want to invite you to help the school and the team in whatever way you can.We will need help in setting up for the games, working the gate, concession stands, organizing any special events or games we might have, and helping with any fund-raising efforts for the team. Thank you in advance.
To God be the Glory!
MS Boys welcome to attend Summer Training.