After a month of training and rest, the team returned to campus this week with its attention fixed on the quickly approaching Carolinas League season. Through daily email conversation during the break, the team members were able to both stay in touch and encourage each other by providing reports of their off-season training progress.
At Monday night’s fitness test, most players seemed apprehensive about the test, fearful of performing poorly despite the long training break, but results showed marked improvement for all players in most areas. From my personal experience and from talking to others, some areas definitely still need a lot of work, and fitness still remains an issue for many, but it is apparent the effort that was put in over break to improve.
On Tuesday afternoon the team gathered at Waterfall Field once again to kick off spring season practice. The long winter break was evident in some sloppiness and dropped balls at the beginning of practice; however, after a few minutes the squad seemed sharper and more energetic in their play than was seen in the fall season. In a regularly used 2v1 drill it was clear that there has been marked improvement since November, with partnerships completing successful passes on nearly every play. Later on, players enjoyed learning to use some of the recently acquired training equipment now at the field, namely a 600 lb tractor tire that can be flipped for a very rugby-specific workout. Each player took their turn flipping the tire, including two new players who were thrown right into the mix, each driving the tire over amidst encouraging shouts from their new teammates. It was exciting not only to urge the guys through their tire flips, but also to see the brand new players welcomed and encouraged as if veterans. While practice began somewhat slowly, with all players needing to shake off a little rust, at the end I could sense optimism towards the upcoming season and it looked like the club had certainly improved. There was a certain sharpness to the play that was not seen before.
This weekend we head to Roanoke, Virginia for a weekend-long training camp. For most players, myself included, this will be a new experience and the weekend holds curiosity and excitement as well as partial fear for what the coaches might have in store for us. I think all players expect to work very hard this weekend, and most members of this team have shown dedication in the past that makes me expect this weekend to be both extremely productive and also fun. At the close of the weekend, I expect the team to be more prepared for the high level of play that we should expect to see throughout the Carolinas League season. We definitely need to improve, but since returning to campus, I have seen a level of commitment in the Wake squad that I have not seen in my 3.5 previous seasons. We appear on track to be physically prepared and in the right mindset to take on the University of South Carolina on January 23 in Columbia.
-Perry Salvagne, '10
Perry Salvagne is a senior center who is writing a weekly blog throughout the season giving a player's perspective on the team. His blog will appear every Wednesday.
At Monday night’s fitness test, most players seemed apprehensive about the test, fearful of performing poorly despite the long training break, but results showed marked improvement for all players in most areas. From my personal experience and from talking to others, some areas definitely still need a lot of work, and fitness still remains an issue for many, but it is apparent the effort that was put in over break to improve.
On Tuesday afternoon the team gathered at Waterfall Field once again to kick off spring season practice. The long winter break was evident in some sloppiness and dropped balls at the beginning of practice; however, after a few minutes the squad seemed sharper and more energetic in their play than was seen in the fall season. In a regularly used 2v1 drill it was clear that there has been marked improvement since November, with partnerships completing successful passes on nearly every play. Later on, players enjoyed learning to use some of the recently acquired training equipment now at the field, namely a 600 lb tractor tire that can be flipped for a very rugby-specific workout. Each player took their turn flipping the tire, including two new players who were thrown right into the mix, each driving the tire over amidst encouraging shouts from their new teammates. It was exciting not only to urge the guys through their tire flips, but also to see the brand new players welcomed and encouraged as if veterans. While practice began somewhat slowly, with all players needing to shake off a little rust, at the end I could sense optimism towards the upcoming season and it looked like the club had certainly improved. There was a certain sharpness to the play that was not seen before.
This weekend we head to Roanoke, Virginia for a weekend-long training camp. For most players, myself included, this will be a new experience and the weekend holds curiosity and excitement as well as partial fear for what the coaches might have in store for us. I think all players expect to work very hard this weekend, and most members of this team have shown dedication in the past that makes me expect this weekend to be both extremely productive and also fun. At the close of the weekend, I expect the team to be more prepared for the high level of play that we should expect to see throughout the Carolinas League season. We definitely need to improve, but since returning to campus, I have seen a level of commitment in the Wake squad that I have not seen in my 3.5 previous seasons. We appear on track to be physically prepared and in the right mindset to take on the University of South Carolina on January 23 in Columbia.
-Perry Salvagne, '10
Perry Salvagne is a senior center who is writing a weekly blog throughout the season giving a player's perspective on the team. His blog will appear every Wednesday.
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