MONTAGUE — Montague spent this week gearing up for its soccer season with some summer conditioning days at the Montague Township soccer complex.
Thursday, Aug. 1 marked the start of the MHSAA’s ‘down period’ prior to fall practices officially opening Aug. 12. During the down period, coaches can meet with athletes in groups up to four for skill work or weight training and non-sport-specific conditioning, but not both.
Several of the Wildcats have had busy summers up to this point, including joining forces with other area players, including Whitehall Vikings, on the White Lake Breakers team that won the U19 Fresh Coast Classic in Petoskey in June. A group of ‘Cats also participated in a weekly 6-on-6 summer league that took place in Ludington.
Montague coach Brandon Mahoney said he’s been pleased with the turnout of his players for these summer activities, particularly rising juniors Korben Sanchez and Michael “MJ” Jones, who appear poised to take up the mantle of team leaders after a large group of decorated seniors graduated from last season’s team.
“Both those guys have put in so much time in the off-season, and they want to be starters,” Mahoney said of the duo. “That’s what I’m looking for, those kinds of kids that have that heart, that, “This is what I want to do, Coach. I want this,” and they put in that effort. Coach (Scott) Liskey did some stuff in the offseason, and they were there all the time at open gyms in the winter. They come to every single one. I think the only one that Korben missed, he was camping. It felt like, ‘The guy needs a break every once in a while.’ But he shows up to everything, and MJ’s the same way.”
Mahoney added that Sanchez and Jones were even on his case about getting together for the permitted “4-on-1s” during the down period prior to practices opening. The Wildcats also have some young players the coaches are excited for, including Steven Aebig, a freshman and younger brother of all-conference star Chris, who performed well in the Ludington 6-on-6 league, and Austin White, who displayed a high soccer IQ Tuesday.
The conditioning workouts include some running, of course, but Mahoney said he tries to limit that sort of thing because while “it helps your cardio,” it doesn’t develop soccer skills. Assistant coach Chris Aebig, who coached the Montague girls in the second half of last season, worked with the players on fundamentals Tuesday, focusing on where on the ball to hit it to make it do what you want it to. There was also work on passing, which Mahoney concedes can be repetitive, but is vital work for any player.
“I tell the kids every time I come here, ‘I know it’s going to be boring; it’s going to be like, not passing again,’ but if you can do this perfect now, when it comes to game time pressure, muscle memory is going to kick in and you’re going to think, ‘I can do this,’ and you’re going to pass around those teams,” Mahoney said.
The day ended with a scaled-down scrimmage, and there too Mahoney saw things he liked. He noted that with Jones’ speed and the veterans’ skill, they could easily just take over a scrimmage, but they instead worked on skills needed when the games kick off.
“He’s fast enough to sprint down and go through everybody and score, but that doesn’t help him,” Mahoney said of Jones. “It doesn’t help the rest of the team. It’s nice that the boys have recognized that I don’t need to see that you have magical one-on-one skills. I know you’re good. I know you’re an athlete. What I want to see is that you know when to pass, you know when to hold it, you know when to release the ball.”
