Staying competitive when there’s nothing at stake

The first couple months of the Second Half were devoted to getting into shape—or at least starting the process. “Preseason” as I liked to call it. The conditioning continues, but I’ve also started keeping a record of matches played, to simulate an actual season. The plan is to play at least two matches a week, one in a familiar location (the home game) and one somewhere new (the away). That will force me to discover new pickup games around the city.

Obviously, with any pickup game, there's always an element of luck with which team you end up on. But especially with small-sided soccer, like the 6v6 and 7v7 that I often play, a single player can shape the outcome with hustle, determination, and leadership. Conversely, that one player with a piss-poor attitude or ball hogging tendencies can ruin his team’s chances in a hurry.  

Besides tracking my overall record and goals scored, I plan to include conditioning metrics, including minutes played, steps per minute, and total miles covered. This kind of big data collection is now common at the professional level, often as part of an injury prevention strategy. A player might be taken out of a match once he hits a certain distance, since the trainers know that his chance of a hamstring strain and other injury goes way up at that point.

In my case, the data collection is more of a motivation tool. For example, I’m already seeing how my win-loss percentage improves, with more goals scored, when I average at least 100 steps per minute throughout the match. So that’s the minimum threshold I’ve set for now. What would happen if I push it to 110 steps per minute? We’ll find out as the season unfolds.      

Overall Record (as of November 8th): 12-4-1

11/5 Fairfield 3-Touch.         11/2 First Touch FC.             10/29 Underground Footie
Win: 9-4                              Win: 2-1                                Win: 4-3
Goals: 1.                               Goals: 1                                 Goals: 3
Total minutes: 70                Total minutes: 60                 Total minutes: 70
Total miles: 4.96                  Total miles: 3.9                     Total miles: 4.1
Steps per minute: 104         Steps per minute: 83           Steps per minute: 98

10/26 First Touch FC          10/24 First Touch FC             10/21 Camden Plaza
Loss: 8-5                               Win: 4-1                                   Win: 14-11
Goal: 2                                  Goals: 1                                    Goals: 1
Total minutes: 60                Total minutes: 60                    Total minutes: 70
Total miles: 4.2                    Total miles: 3.86                     Total miles: 4.15
Steps per minute: 120         Steps per minute: 97             Steps per minute: 82

10/19 First Touch FC          10/18: Bed-Stuy FC (In)             10/14: Fort Greene SC
Win: 5-4                              Draw: 2-2                                   Win: 7-3
Goals: 1                               Goals: 0                                       Goals: 0
Total minutes: 60                Total minutes: 75                       Total minutes: 110
Total miles: 3.71                    Total miles: 4.18                        Total miles: 5.27
Steps per minute: 91            Steps per minute: 86                 Steps per minute: 84

10/5: First Touch FC        10/4: Bed-Stuy FC (Indoor)              10/1: Bed-Stuy FC
Loss: 7-1                            Loss: 7-3                                           Win: 7-3
Goals: 0                             Goals: 1                                             Goals: 2
Total minutes: 60.            Total minutes: 60                            Total minutes: 90        
Total miles: 3.8.                Total miles: 2.6                               Total miles: 6
Steps per minute: 101.    Steps per minute: 94                     Steps per minute: 103

9/28: Sunrise FC.             9/24: Bed-Stuy FC                         9/22: First Touch FC (McCarren Park) 
Win: 2-1                             Win: 5-3                                          Loss: 5-2
Goals: 1                             Goals: 1                                           Goals: 0
Total minutes: 60.            Total minutes: 100                         Total minutes: 60
Total miles: 4.2                 Total miles: 6.18                             Total miles: 3.3
Steps per minute: 102     Steps per minute: 102                    Steps per minute: 91

9/21: First Touch FC         9/18: Bed-Stuy FC
Win: 5-3.                             Win: 9-7
Goals: 1.                             Goals: 3
Total minutes: 60               Total minutes: 90
Total miles: 4                      Total miles: 5.25
Steps per minute: 102       Steps per minute: 92