Literature Review

The Virginia Tech Men’s Soccer Team (Hokies) has become a diverse group of players from across the United States and a few other countries. This has been due to the recruiting of German-native coach, Oliver Weiss, over the past several years.

Oliver Weiss has been coaching here for seven years, and over the course of those years, he has created an extremely diverse squad with players from all over the United States, several players each from Germany, and Ghana, and one from Canada. This past year this diversity helped the Hokies reach the semifinals and achieve the greatest season the program has seen. (Kilgore 2007) A huge contributor to this accomplishment was Patrick Nyarko, a player that Weiss recruited from Ghana. After the season ended, he was drafted into the MLS. Last year four players came from overseas to play here at Virginia Tech for only one season. Their presence also helped to contribute to the Hokies amazing season. This year there are twelve new recruits, and five of them are international. However, the foreigners presence has not led to as great of a start as it did last year, which is illustrated by the Hokies’ current record of 2-5-1. Hopefully as this year goes on the foreigners will be able to contribute as well as they did last year. Off the field the foreigners can have a positive effect as well. The players from the U.S. can learn a lot from being around players with different cultures, and playing styles. Last year that was the case, according to Kilgore (2007).

The diversity of the squad in past years has been very beneficial to the team both on and off the field. Hopefully it will have the same positive effects in years to come.

So last night I interviewed three members of the soccer team, and today I attended one of their practices. When I showed up the house I planned on interviewing one member of the team but they were all sitting in the room and they just started to shout out answers. This was good because I got three similar perspectives, with slight variations. The basic theme of everything they had to say was that last year was a great year for the team in terms of success on the field and team relationships off the field. This year is different because the team lost a lot of players and got a lot of new players many of which are from other countries. The team chemistry and closeness between players is not there like it was last year. Injuries have also hurt the team team this year. At the practice i observed today the team looked very good but appeances can be deceiving so i guess well see at the next game.

Interview Questions

1. Can you describe the agenda of the team on a typical game day?

2. How is the chemistry among the players?

3. What has been the most exciting moment the team has experienced while you have been a part of it?

4. How do the first year players fit in with the veterans on the team?

5. What would you say are the most important aspects of the team's success and/or failure?

6. What are some issues that the team runs into on a regular or irregular basis?

7. How do you predict the team will finish this year?

8. What aspects of the team's play need the most improvement in your opinion?

9. Can you describe what your perfect season would be?

10. Do you feel that the coaching staff does a good job with all of the players?

Three Goals

1. I would like to improve my conclusion paragraphs.
2. I would like to improve my drafting and proofreading skills.
3. I want to be able to show, not tell my readers what is going on.

Observations

As a lifeguard, I spend most of my day doing whatever I want, but the time that me and the other lifeguards spend doing what is required of us is very important. During the time we spend up in the chair watching the pool, we focus our undivided attention towards the people swimming in the water. We slowly scan the entire pool looking for ant sign of someone in distress, ready to pounce should someone need to be saved. The rest of the time lifeguards spend either hanging out in the lifeguard office, or walking around the pool deck. Though it is free time for us, we always need to be on our toes in case another lifeguard needs assistance with saving someone. Every once in a while one of us may need to administer first aid to someone who received an injury of some sort.

College so far.

SO......I'm a few hours away from finishing my second week of classes, and I'm already sick. When I woke up this morning I had a terrible sore throat, how does this happen already? Hopefully I will get over this quickly so I can enjoy the upcoming game. I am very excited about this game because though I love football it will be just my second college football game and my first Virginia Tech game. I can't wait for the entrance, just watching it on YouTube gives me goosebumps. Anyway, classes are now in full swing and I have a full homework schedule. I was a little scared about being able to balance the load, but it is not that difficult if you just stay on top of the work. Also, rush started this week which I am very excited about. I have always been interested in joining a frat, and since I've gotten here I know I want to. We have plenty of time to talk about that later, especially considering that I picked one as my community.