With just under a week until its departure to Davis, California for a 10-day preseason venture, Real Monarchs players are finding ways to lead one another in training while growing together tactically on the field. Preparing for the trip to the Golden State, Head Coach Mark Briggs has placed points of emphasis on roles of each individual as well as responsibilities for the entire unit.
Leadership in all Forms
Veteran leadership is abounding in a Monarchs side who are hungry to return to the pitch after last year’s successes. Midfielder Charlie Adams is entering his third season with the Monarchs and his fourth in the USL with the knowledge and the understanding of what it takes to be successful over a long season. Accountability strikes Adams as one of the focal points in this year’s preseason.
“Leadership comes from everyone,” Adams explained. “The key is demanding a high standard from everyone. All players on the team need to hold each other to a high standard to be successful. We’re going to need leaders all over the field this season.”
Added Briggs, “Last year the guys learned a lot because of the pressures we were placed under. The players who were a part of what happened last year are looking to take the next step to become great. Each player leads in different ways and the key is leading effectively and I think the boys are doing that.”
Preparing for the Long Haul
The club enters its fourth season in the USL and with a 34-game regular-season slate across 31 weeks, the biggest season in league history awaits. Cultivating positive habits on and off the field helps prepare players for a long season where travel is heavy and competition is stiff. Having spent the first three weeks of preseason in Herriman, the team has placed emphasis on devoting every day to improving as a unit knowing that to defend its regular-season title, a day must never be wasted.
“Improving every day is important because it’s a long season,” Adams iterated. “When the games come, they come thick and fast so never wasting a day of training and taking care of our bodies is important.”
Learning Curves
Preseason has given the players time to learn new tactics and understand how one another plays their respective positions on the field. While the team is evolving and learning together, Briggs believes his players are absorbing objectives both as a unit and individually to help make the team a greater whole.
“The players are undoubtedly understanding and learning what is expected of them in their roles,” Briggs explained. “Coming to an understanding of what is expected as a unit is just a continuation of the work they’re putting in. With that, we’re on the right track.”
