Huskies juggle for playing time
September 18, 2003
For at least five NIU women’s soccer players, not meeting summer requirements is forcing them to watch their team from the sidelines.
Returners Kelly Kelso, Kerry Walker, Alexis Terry and several others haven’t seen any playing time after the Huskies’ first home game, a loss to Wisconsin. The players did not meet juggling requirements set by coach Frank Horvat.
Juggling, in soccer terms, is bouncing the ball off of body parts without the ball hitting the ground, a technique to improve first-touch skills.
Until Thursday, the reason for these players not playing was undetermined.
“We have to get 300 juggles with [any part of our body], 200 with our feet and 50 with our head,” freshman midfielder Megan Kolkay said.
According to Kolkay, lower summer requirements had to be met in order to play in the first home game.
“It’s not only about whether they can juggle or not,” Horvat said. “It’s about commitment.”
Terry, a sophomore defender, said she’s met the juggling requirements with her head, but is one-half to three-fourths of the way complete for using any part of her body.
“I’m getting there; I’m close,” she said.
Horvat said he requires specific numbers to push his players to be committed.
“If you can hit these numbers, you’re going to become better,” Horvat said. “One of our biggest weaknesses is confidence. First-touch skills give our players confidence.”
Terry, as well as others, questioned the amount of times Horvat requires.
“I think being able to do it 25 to 50 times might be necessary, but anything more than that is kind of excessive because you don’t need to juggle that much in a game,” she said.
Walker agreed.
“You don’t need to be a good juggler to be a good soccer player,” Walker said. “I feel that there are other skills that better qualify a player’s ability to play. There’s rarely an occasion that you’ll use juggling in a game.”
Walker also said that being good at juggling could help in some situations, but wasn’t essential to playing well.
“It’s like telling a basketball player to spin a ball for a certain amount of time,” she said.
Walker, a Colorado native, was red-shirted last year because of tendonitis, but played her freshman year.
“My parents come out to watch me play, and I can’t play because I can’t juggle,” she said.
Juggling requirements were set last year, but not meeting the qualifications didn’t prohibit players from competing in games. Instead, the players had to do extra conditioning after practices.
“It’s been a requirement for a while,” Horvat said. “Now I’m just holding them accountable to it.”
Walker, Terry and others who are benched until they meet the set marks are hoping Horvat will change the requirements.
Kerry said Horvat mentioned re-evaluating the requirements to be based on a percentage of juggles improved instead of flat numbers.
“Hopefully, the new goals will be more realistic,” Kerry said.
Horvat said he isn’t changing the requirements, but will allow players to play if he sees progress in juggling numbers.
“There are numbers that need to be hit before game time,” Horvat said. “I just want to see improvement. This is a little thing that can divide us, or bring us together.”