Instead of winding down at home before the stresses of the academic year begin, Dartmouth's fall athletes have been on campus since mid-August preparing for their seasons. Putting in endless hours of practice before most students even arrive in Hanover may be far from glamorous, but it is arguably one of the most important components of a successful season.
Practices for the fall season kicked off as soon Ivy League rules allowed. The football team's check-in date was August 21, and the women's soccer team arrived on August 20, several days before practice began.
Women's soccer team captain Monica Martin de Bustamante '08 spoke about the importance of preseason practices, specifically with regard to physical conditioning.
"You can't really play any games without preseason," Martin de Bustamante said. "We need to make sure that everyone is at the same fitness level and is ready to play."
The teams take full advantage of the additional time without classes, and the fact that they do not have to worry about games, to hold extra practices.
"We hold two practices, one in the morning and one in the evening, during preseason," Martin de Bustamante said. "During the first week of practices, it's almost like having three practices a day because we do a track workout on top of the practices. We cut the practices down to one per day once the season starts, and we don't do track workouts because our legs need to be ready for games."
The football team has traditionally practiced twice a day prior to this year, but has altered their practice schedule because of a rule which dictates that they may not have two-a-days each day " they now alternate between practicing once and twice each day.
"A typical day consists of breakfast, meetings, practice, lunch, practice, meetings, dinner and then more meetings," captain Ian Wilson '08 said.
Preseason is an especially important time for incoming freshmen, since this is the first time that the newcomers will get to make an impression on their teammates.
"Preseason is the first time the '11s will practice with the team, so our form needs to be explained to them," Martin de Bustamante said.
The freshmen also add some competition for spots in the starting lineup, so preseason is where initial starting lineups are set.
"Spring practices and preseason are two completely different things, but I would say that preseason is more important in determining starters, because the '11s are here," Wilson said.
Dartmouth's schedule allows for fall athletes to have a preseason and play several early season games without academic deadlines to contend with, and the additional time that Big Green athletes have to prepare is definitely an advantage. However, that advantage is offset because other schools that start classes earlier also begin preseason and open their practices earlier.
Wilson explained potential drawbacks of the team's unique schedule.
"Our first game of the season is against Colgate, but for them it's already their third game. That means that they've already had a chance to work out some of the wrinkles they had in the first game of the season, which is something we don't get to do," he said.
As it is a time when few non-athletes are on campus, some athletes have found that preseason presents an opportunity to get closer to teammates.
"We always eat together at dinner, which is something we don't always do [during the term] because people have places to be," Martin de Bustamante said. "We also went on a team bonding trip a few days before practices began."
Although Wilson does enjoy the luxury of being able to focus solely on football, he is also eagerly awaiting the beginning of the academic year.
"Right now, the period of time when we're out of camp and we're focusing on an opponent is ideal," Wilson said. "If I had to pick though, I would say that I like being in season better because there's a specific opponent that the team is preparing for."
