FMU College Showcase
Saturday, January 26th, 1:30pm - 4:30pm
Thirty-six players from South Carolina and Georgia attended the college soccer showcase hosted by Francis Marion University. The college soccer coaches in attendance were; Kevin Varnado (Francis Marion), Warren Russ (Georgia Southwestern), Dan Kennelly (Spartanburg Methodist), and Leto Aligarho (Saint Andrews Presbyterian). Five other college and university coaches were scheduled to attend, but due to other circumstances, they could not make the trip. This was the second Junior/Senior showcase for coach Varnado and he stated that this “Was a very good turnout”. In addition, coach Varnado stated that “This showcase will become a great platform to highlight Junior/Senior talent within South Carolina”, and he looks forward to its continued development. He (Varnado) was aware that CESA was hosting their Freshman/Sophomore/Junior combine and that the SAT’s were also on the same day. However, even with the NCAA restrictions and the timing of the before mentioned events, he was still very excited about the event. In the end, this showcase is still one of the only Senior showcases in the state and the event will continue next year.
Arriving in the afternoon it looked as though the day would be cold and wet. But, the sun shined brightly upon the FMU campus and it turned out to be a very exciting and productive day for the players, coaches, and parents in attendance. The players were divided into three field teams and one keeper team. The field players went through a series of technical warm-ups and the goalkeepers worked with the FMU keeper coach. I have to say, the keeper warm-up was very impressive. I mention this because many coaches do not spend enough time with their respective goalkeepers due to lack of experience and I was intently watching this portion of the session because I wanted to gain additional knowledge regarding training techniques with respect to that position.
After the warm-ups, the teams progressed into small-sided games on the FMU practice fields and the teams were rotated so that each team played against each other. This format allowed the teams/players to highlight their respective skills against different opponents in a small grid. Somehow, coach Varnado was able to divide the players into evenly matched teams, which allowed the players to showcase their individual abilities and it was fun to watch. The teams were then given a short break and moved to the FMU main playing field for full-field games. As the games played on, you could hear the current FMU players in attendance reacting with grunts and cheers as the ball moved around the field and that was an added benefit.
I didn’t realize that three hours had passed by when play stopped, mostly because I was so excited to see our SC players doing so well. In the end, 36 players had a great training experience and a great opportunity to showcase their respective talents to college coaches. Players came from all over South Carolina and Georgia and I truly believe that the experience was beneficial to all…
The following were some of the SC high schools in attendance; Beaufort, Socastee, Waccamaw, Summerville, Carolina Forest, Wilson, South Aiken, Rock Hill, St. James, Dreher, Hannahan, Andrews, and South Florence.
If I missed your school, please chime in…
