The Impact U18 will start its 2016-17 USSDA season on September 10 against Beachside SC at Centre Nutrilait. Head coach Yoann Damet took time to answer some questions on the season to come.
Does the U18 age category pose specific challenges?
The challenges come from the fact that we are developing players and that they know it’s their last years at the Academy. There are multiple goals. There’s the development goal, where we want to keep giving them the tools to progress and develop; there’s the performance goal, which is what they show in games every week-end; and there’s the result goal, which is to get as many positive results as possible to make the playoffs and make the ride a bit longer.
You joined the team midway through last season. How does it feel to be able to start this season with the team?
The main change is that I control what’s put into place on the field. I have the chance to work in continuity with last season with a group of guys that, for at least half of them, lived the last six months of the season and come back with a certain dynamic. It also helped me recognize some things from last season to bring changes into the next.
How has preseason been?
It has gone well. The players were happy to come back to training. There was a lot of quality in the first weeks. We took this opportunity to give them information on what we want to put in place and explain how the training sessions and the season will go. The players are progressing well physically and tactically. We have a uniform group with a synergy between the young and older players.
Last year’s playoffs ended in dramatic fashion, missing the next round by one penalty kick. Do you use this to motivate the players, or would you rather turn the page?
To make sure that we turned the page, we took advantage of the camp in Moncton to play those images again, coming back on the three games. It helped to finally get over it and launch the new season with this. I think everyone wants to live more positive emotions this season. It was an opportunity to say that we learned from our experiences to move forward and do something good this season.
Have you developed rivalries with other USSDA teams?
We expect big games every weekend; this season is no different than past ones. The goal is to start well, no matter the opponent. We also play our first game at home. There are always good rivalries between the MLS clubs. We have always wanted to perform well against other MLS academies. There are also teams with whom, every year, it’s a fight on the field. Last year, BW Gottschee finished first in regular season and tied 2-2 in Montreal. We will face them in our second game. It’s the type of team that is interesting to play against.
Three times this season, the team will play two games in two days. How do you deal with that?
With our experiences, we have been able to put things into place that have facilitated recovery between games. We work before and after these double-headers to be able to start them well, but also to recover after. These weekends are never easy, but they are really interesting to see the reaction of a group and its ability to question itself within 24 hours.
What does it mean to play two of your last three games this season against MLS opposition?
It will be interesting to see where we are in the standings before these games. They are important games in our season, but also in our players’ development process. It’s a good way to evaluate what the players have learned during the year since they should be at their best performance level at this moment. They will be interesting, quality games, where we will want to do well against our MLS opponents.
