Men's Soccer Summer Spotlight - Sawyer Gaffney
8/23/2018 11:14:00 AM | Men's Soccer
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Davidson student-athletes are scattered near and far during the summer months. Few remain in and around Davidson, but most are out in the world taking a break from campus life. However, all are staying fit and preparing for their respective upcoming seasons, while adding extracurricular experiences to their development. Below junior Sawyer Gaffney shared with us his 2018 summer experiences.
Shortly after completing my exams in May I headed to New York to meet up with Athletes In Action. Athletes in Action is a Christian Sports Ministry that provides athletes with the opportunity to grow their faith and relationship with Christ while spreading the gospel. There were roughly twenty other guys there, from Xavier, Kentucky, Ohio State, Arizona State, UCLA, Dayton, and a few other smaller colleges, as well as mature and experienced staff of about seven or eight just for the men's team. After spending two days in New York to get to know one another and learning the principles that AIA teaches, we left for Barcelona. We spent about a week in Barcelona, staying at a hostel and training twice a day at some nearby pitches, this was considered our pre-season camp. We played one friendly, a fourth division team, and won 3-1, and the venue was gorgeous. It was carved out of the mountainside and overlooked the cityscape. We also visited Camp Nou, home to FC Barcelona and visited the Jordi Alba center, which was a massive warehouse; converted into a soccer-training center, which was pretty awesome, and afterwards we had a cookout.
After a week, we headed to Lisbon, Portugal where we were partnered with Benfica. The Benfica bus picked us up from the airport and took us to their team hotel/resort. One of the nicest facilities and hotel I have ever seen. They fed us quite well, breakfast and lunch was all you could eat Portuguese cuisine. We would train in the mornings, and in the afternoon we would either have devotional, worship, or discipleship. I learned a lot about how I can use my sport and my actions to show that Christ lives through me during these lessons. One day we scrimmaged the under 18's and lost 5-0; to say the least, they were quite good. They moved the ball incredibly well and with pace, they won their 1v1.
We got to see and experience a bit of the culture of Lisbon too. We scrimmaged an amateur team, and won and afterwards got to go to their church service, which was exciting and energizing. One afternoon we spent on the beach, and another we spent touring Estadio da Luz, Benfica's stadium. One day we spent in Old Lisbon, around Praça de Comércio, which had a ton of shops and stores for us to see, and great places to eat. I had my fair share of pistachio ice cream. Overall an incredible trip, and I met a lot of great people and life long friends.
This summer I also had the wonderful opportunity to do a fair bit of coaching. For the second summer, I worked a Just 4 Keepers residential camp in St. George, VA with Adrian Clewlow and Larry Dolph. We had two dozen keepers that we taught and refined their goalkeeping technique and skills, while having a bit of fun and good laughs. We had three sessions a day, and on the last day had a pool party and grill out. As motivation for the kids, I promised the winners ice cream, so during the middle of the week I made a trip to Wal-Mart to buy a dozen gallons of ice cream and unlimited toppings to hold up my end of the bargain. It's safe to say I would have been voted favorite coach of the camp.
I also had the opportunity to work the Davidson senior ID camp, which is great to reconnect with teammates during the summer while working with kids that are going through the same process of college recruiting that we went through. On top of the camps, I coached a few kids for a total of about five sessions a week of private training. I've been working with goalkeepers and field players, trying to help them improve and achieve what they want out of their game.
Training with the Charlotte Independence (USL Pro) for the second half of the summer has been great and challenges me because it pushes me outside of my comfort zone. Watching the pros, Andrew Dykstra and Brandon Miller, has helped my game a lot as I am always trying to learn. The speed and pace are quicker than Davidson, so it has forced me to be quicker and smarter by overloading my nervous system, or so I think. Awesome watching the confidence and the skill of Je-Vaugn Watson, Jamaican International, and the intelligence and pace of Columbian midfielder Jorge Herrera has made me want to be better because those are guys that raise the level and dominate in their positions.
I also really appreciate the level of professionalism that the club holds itself to. Everyone needs to be in the locker room by 8:30 am, then team meeting promptly at 9 am, then head out to the training pitches at 9:15 am for training to start at 9:30 am then around 11 am we wrap up or typically have a light lift afterwards. After training you might be able to get a massage, or ice bath to recover so you are prepared for the next day. Everything is just geared to performing well on Saturday to get three points. Everyone expects you to do the right things, and I like that.
From a team standpoint, our captains have done really well at keeping tabs on us as well as a lot of us just staying in touch and communicating with one another about what is going on. I think the excitement is growing as preseason approaches because we have a lot of starters returning and a strong incoming class. I think when we get in the locker room the first day, everyone is going to look around and just know that we are capable of big things this fall but it is up to us to rise above those expectations and create a bit of history. This is a group that is going to push each other, and invest the time and make the sacrifices to make big things happen. I personally and we as a team could not be excited to hit the ground running.
Davidson student-athletes are scattered near and far during the summer months. Few remain in and around Davidson, but most are out in the world taking a break from campus life. However, all are staying fit and preparing for their respective upcoming seasons, while adding extracurricular experiences to their development. Below junior Sawyer Gaffney shared with us his 2018 summer experiences.
Shortly after completing my exams in May I headed to New York to meet up with Athletes In Action. Athletes in Action is a Christian Sports Ministry that provides athletes with the opportunity to grow their faith and relationship with Christ while spreading the gospel. There were roughly twenty other guys there, from Xavier, Kentucky, Ohio State, Arizona State, UCLA, Dayton, and a few other smaller colleges, as well as mature and experienced staff of about seven or eight just for the men's team. After spending two days in New York to get to know one another and learning the principles that AIA teaches, we left for Barcelona. We spent about a week in Barcelona, staying at a hostel and training twice a day at some nearby pitches, this was considered our pre-season camp. We played one friendly, a fourth division team, and won 3-1, and the venue was gorgeous. It was carved out of the mountainside and overlooked the cityscape. We also visited Camp Nou, home to FC Barcelona and visited the Jordi Alba center, which was a massive warehouse; converted into a soccer-training center, which was pretty awesome, and afterwards we had a cookout.
After a week, we headed to Lisbon, Portugal where we were partnered with Benfica. The Benfica bus picked us up from the airport and took us to their team hotel/resort. One of the nicest facilities and hotel I have ever seen. They fed us quite well, breakfast and lunch was all you could eat Portuguese cuisine. We would train in the mornings, and in the afternoon we would either have devotional, worship, or discipleship. I learned a lot about how I can use my sport and my actions to show that Christ lives through me during these lessons. One day we scrimmaged the under 18's and lost 5-0; to say the least, they were quite good. They moved the ball incredibly well and with pace, they won their 1v1.
We got to see and experience a bit of the culture of Lisbon too. We scrimmaged an amateur team, and won and afterwards got to go to their church service, which was exciting and energizing. One afternoon we spent on the beach, and another we spent touring Estadio da Luz, Benfica's stadium. One day we spent in Old Lisbon, around Praça de Comércio, which had a ton of shops and stores for us to see, and great places to eat. I had my fair share of pistachio ice cream. Overall an incredible trip, and I met a lot of great people and life long friends.
This summer I also had the wonderful opportunity to do a fair bit of coaching. For the second summer, I worked a Just 4 Keepers residential camp in St. George, VA with Adrian Clewlow and Larry Dolph. We had two dozen keepers that we taught and refined their goalkeeping technique and skills, while having a bit of fun and good laughs. We had three sessions a day, and on the last day had a pool party and grill out. As motivation for the kids, I promised the winners ice cream, so during the middle of the week I made a trip to Wal-Mart to buy a dozen gallons of ice cream and unlimited toppings to hold up my end of the bargain. It's safe to say I would have been voted favorite coach of the camp.
I also had the opportunity to work the Davidson senior ID camp, which is great to reconnect with teammates during the summer while working with kids that are going through the same process of college recruiting that we went through. On top of the camps, I coached a few kids for a total of about five sessions a week of private training. I've been working with goalkeepers and field players, trying to help them improve and achieve what they want out of their game.
Training with the Charlotte Independence (USL Pro) for the second half of the summer has been great and challenges me because it pushes me outside of my comfort zone. Watching the pros, Andrew Dykstra and Brandon Miller, has helped my game a lot as I am always trying to learn. The speed and pace are quicker than Davidson, so it has forced me to be quicker and smarter by overloading my nervous system, or so I think. Awesome watching the confidence and the skill of Je-Vaugn Watson, Jamaican International, and the intelligence and pace of Columbian midfielder Jorge Herrera has made me want to be better because those are guys that raise the level and dominate in their positions.
I also really appreciate the level of professionalism that the club holds itself to. Everyone needs to be in the locker room by 8:30 am, then team meeting promptly at 9 am, then head out to the training pitches at 9:15 am for training to start at 9:30 am then around 11 am we wrap up or typically have a light lift afterwards. After training you might be able to get a massage, or ice bath to recover so you are prepared for the next day. Everything is just geared to performing well on Saturday to get three points. Everyone expects you to do the right things, and I like that.
From a team standpoint, our captains have done really well at keeping tabs on us as well as a lot of us just staying in touch and communicating with one another about what is going on. I think the excitement is growing as preseason approaches because we have a lot of starters returning and a strong incoming class. I think when we get in the locker room the first day, everyone is going to look around and just know that we are capable of big things this fall but it is up to us to rise above those expectations and create a bit of history. This is a group that is going to push each other, and invest the time and make the sacrifices to make big things happen. I personally and we as a team could not be excited to hit the ground running.
Players Mentioned
GK
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