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"JOURNAL ENTRY" From OCSA Goal Keeper Christian Hansen
July 23, 2010
Recently, I, Christian Hansen, was fortunate enough to attend Region III Camp with the '94 NC ODP team in Tuscaloosa, AL. During the camp, my NC team played other teams from the South East region in tournament format. Overall as a team we did not do very well. We won our first game against North Texas 4-1 and lost our second game against Louisiana 3-2. Because we lost our second game, we were disqualified from going back to nationals. After our second game, we had two more games to play. The first one was against Arkansas who we beat 6-1. The second one was against South Carolina who we tied 1-1. The caliber of these teams was very competitive.
All four of these tournament format games were played at 8:00 a.m. After we finished each game, we went back to our dorms where we spent most of our spare time. Once we finished eating lunch, my age group would walk and assemble at the campus auditorium. At the auditorium, a region coach would lecture us on improving our game play. At the end of every lecture, the region coach would call out the names of those players who were to participate in the Region Pool games. When the lecture was over, everybody left the auditorium to return to their dorms. When we got back to our dorms, we would rest until we would leave for practice or until we would leave for the pool games. These events made up our daily routine for the first four days. On the fifth day we started with game in the morning. After our game, we returned to our dorms so we could get ready for the closing ceremony. At the closing ceremony, the region coaches announced which players would be held over for the Region Pool. If you were held over, you would stay three extra days to be evaluated for the Region Team. If you weren't held over, you would return home.
During the hold over, we had three-a-days. The first practice started at 7:30 a.m., the second at 2:00p.m., and the final at 7:00 p.m. This schedule lasted for two days. The caliber of play for these two days was extremely competitive. The players were very quick and played with a lot of intensity. They also made very few mistakes. On the third and final day, there was one last cool down practice. When the practice was finished, everybody returned to their dorms to get ready to leave for home.
Throughout the entire camp, I received great coaching. Especially during the hold over. The coaches taught me how to communicate with specific instructions for my defenders. They also taught me how to perfect my punts. Overall, the camp was a great experience and I was proud to participate at the Region III Camp.
