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Home » Fitness » Build a fitness foundation to have a healthy soccer season

The calendar says it’s February, but outdoor soccer fields throughout the area already are teeming with athletes gearing up for the spring season.

Games are now under way in the Greater St. Louis Soccer league, while they are just around the corner for athletes playing as part of the St. Louis Youth Soccer Association and Southern Illinois Soccer League.

Any soccer players still firmly planted on their couches may be in for a rough -- and particularly risky -- kickoff to their seasons.

“I’ve always looked at overall fitness and sports-specific fitness as so important,” said Dr. Coles L’Hommedieu, an orthopedic surgeon with Signature Medical Group and a former club and collegiate soccer player.

L’Hommedieu, who played for J. B. Marine, Scott Gallagher and St. Louis University, said athletes cannot expect to automatically be ready for the physical demands of the season after a prolonged winter break without properly rebuilding their fitness levels.

“You need cardiovascular work and strength training, doing the technical things required for soccer, to make sure your skill level is high so mentally and physically you’re ready,” he said.

Because soccer involves quick moves forward and back and side to side, soccer trainers and players often recommend plyometric exercises to strengthen muscles and help prevent injuries.

Ladue native and U.S. women's national team member Becky Sauerbrunn, who has partnered with Signature Medical Group, suggests hopping over a soccer ball to mimic those quick movements and to build leg and knee strength.

Soccer drills done at practices may give an athlete the technical tools to face an opposing team, but not necessarily the stamina or strength to go the distances required.

To supplement soccer skills with that extra level of fitness, L’Hommedieu suggested adding other kinds of sports and activities.

“I love the general idea of cross-training and keeping fitness activities exciting,” he said. “It’s the idea that you do different things to work different muscle groups in different ways.”

Cross-training also can be helpful for athletes looking to resume action after an injury, L’Hommedieu said.

“I like bicycling a lot, personally, and also professionally. It’s great for your heart,” said L’Hommedieu, who practices out of Premiere Care Orthopedics in South County. “It’s very, very low impact, so you can really recover from injuries.”

Just like athletes who have taken a prolonged winter break, those recovering from injury can’t expect to immediately rebound to their pre-injury status -- and that can be difficult to acknowledge.

St. Louis Scott Gallagher player Blake Thomilson, 15, sustained a horrific break in his lower leg a year ago during a hockey game.

“The doctor that set his leg said it was one of the worst he’s ever had to set,” said Thomilson’s mother, Cheri. “He said it was one for his books.”

Even knowing the extent of his injury, the Edwardsville family didn’t realize the recovery and rehabilitation would be so lengthy. A member of the U15 Metro Classic team, Thomilson just this month played in his first outdoor game since the accident, and for only about 10 minutes per half.

“We were shocked at how long it took,” Cheri Thomilson said. “We thought it would be a quicker recovery.”

To ensure their son recovers at a healthy pace, the Thomilsons continue to send him to physical therapy even though he’s been cleared for contact sports since last fall. He also works with a soccer trainer who is helping him get back up to speed with his skills.

L’Hommedieu said making smart decisions with injury recovery can be the difference between a little time off the field and a chronic problem.

“Unless you recover fully from an injury, it can become something that is a nagging injury that you can struggle with for a whole season or several seasons or shorten a playing career,” he said.

Much has been made of soccer-related injuries among youth in recent years. L’Hommedieu said head blows or lower extremity injuries, such as to the ankles, knees and hips, are fairly common and should not be ignored.

“With modern sports for kids, everyone’s a pro athlete from the time they’re 10 years old,” said L’Hommedieu, who lost his sophomore year of college soccer to an ACL injury. “The offseason is smaller and smaller ... so the down time and ability of their body to recover even in healthy kids is greatly decreased.”

For the youngest players, injuries involving open growth plates need to be dealt with aggressively to ensure there are no lasting problems, L’Hommedieu said.

“My hope, whether it’s my own kids or patients, is that fitness and sports become a lifelong activity that you can enjoy as long as you can possibly play them,” he said.

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Build a fitness foundation to have a healthy soccer season

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Home » Fitness » Build a fitness foundation to have a healthy soccer season