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Emily Kalmbach - Santa Margarita HS (Rancho SM) - University of Michigan
signee - Balancing the Soccer-Running-Academic act!!
As one of the state's leading 400m returnees at 56.47 Track types think
of Emily Kalmbach of Orange County power Santa Margarita as one of the
state's top long sprinters, who has competed and had success in Fall Cross-Country
as well. However, there is much more to this young lady who has recently
signed with the University of Michigan for a soccer scholarship. With
great academics to boot, one wonders how the balancing act is accomplished
between the different important activities in the teen's life each day
and throughout the year. It does not seem easy, as she indicates below
in flights to soccer games the same day as a race at the Fresno State
Cross-Country Meet. It is interesting to see what she says about the act
she has pulled off as a high-schooler, with thoughts from one who is kind
of spinning from one activity to another all year long.
Best of Luck Emily - Doug Speck - DyeStatCal.com
Emily's
Press Release upon Signing at University of Michigan
1) Describe your athletic career and the different sports you have been
involved in the last few years.
My athletic career has had its ups and downs in each sport. The hardest
time for me as an athlete was when I fractured my femur in a soccer game
(summer of 2000) and had to have surgery in which a titanium rod and three
screws were put inside my femur. This took months to recover from and
it was very tough mentally. I have always been involved in soccer, but
during high school I have enjoyed participating in cross-country and track.
I think that my track coach has helped me improve greatly and I am very
excited for this upcoming season.
2) What courses have you taken academically in recent years? (understand
the Int’l Baccalaureate Program quite challenging!) --?
Throughout high school I have taken honors history and English. Last year
I took AP U.S. history, which was the hardest class I have ever taken,
but I think it prepared me well for college next year. The English portion
of the I.B. program is also difficult,
but by now I have must of it done, (the oral exam and essays).
3) How along the way were you attracted to a couple different sports?
I have always been very attracted to sports in general, but soccer was
always my primary focus. It wasn’t until high school started that
I became interested in running as a sport, I signed up to run cross-country
not even really knowing what it was and wanting to do it to help stay
in shape for soccer.
4) How do you arrange your yearly schedule so you can do justice to the
different sports?
Club soccer is pretty much year round sport (except during high school
soccer season), and I was always upfront with my cross-country and track
coaches that soccer was my priority. I compromised as much as I could
with both coaches about missing games or races, and I think that most
of the time everything worked out pretty well.
5) How are soccer, track, and cross-country different mentally as you
approach them?
Soccer, track, and cross-country all require different types of mental
approaches. For me soccer is mentally the easiest because although it
requires concentration there is not as much pressure individually. Track
requires a great deal of mental focus and I thin k that it also requires
more preparation, such as eating healthy and getting enough rest. For
me I need to mentally focus and usually end up thinking about and visualizing
a race throughout the week before. Cross-country probably requires the
most mental concentration because it is such a long race and there is
so much to think about while running and at different points of a race;
and it also depends on the course you are running.
6) Talk a bit about the competitiveness of soccer in Orange County.
Orange County and Southern California in general is one of the most competitive
regions for girls soccer is in the nation. Especially in the past years,
the competition level of girl’s soccer has greatly increased and
this is reflected in the teams who have brought back national championships
and the number of scholarships that girls in this area have received for
soccer. Almost all the girls on my club team are going to college on some
sort of scholarship, and this has come through years of working hard and
playing in various college showcases. I think that this competitiveness
is now starting at a younger age.
7.) How have coaches been flexible in the different activities to allow
you to maybe take part in more than one at the same time or during an
“overlap” period?
I think that my cross-country and track coaches have been the most flexible,
and it has been harder to get out of club soccer. There have been exceptions
though, such as during my freshmen year for cross-country I went to the
state championships and missed a soccer game, but then flew back down
to San Diego right after my race to play in another game. I think that
my club coach understands more at this point, because I have worked so
hard and in return have received a soccer scholarship, which has been
the primary goal of playing club. My track coach has been pretty flexible,
although not always happy with letting me go for soccer, but usually I
only miss a not very important invitational. I don’t think that
high school sports coaches are very flexible with each other. Freshmen
year I had wanted to play high school soccer and talked to the coach and
he knew who I was and he had seen me play, but I had to miss try-outs
because I was still in cross-country for the state championships. When
I was able to come out, he told me the teams were full and that he would
just have to put me on frosh-soph; which made me angry and not want to
play high school at all.
8.) Tell us a little about your choice of the University of Michigan.
As soon as I walked on to the school’s campus I knew that it was
the school for me; I practically made my decision then. It is a beautiful
campus and it has a great balance of both academics and athletics. The
athletic facilities are great and I really liked the lay out of the school.
U of Michigan has a great kinesiology school, which is what I am going
to major in. I also really liked the soccer team and how the team played,
and I really thought the coach was great and would help bring me to the
next level as a player.
9.) What advice would you have to coaches and athletes who wish to take
part in a variety of different sports, with possibility of some needed
flexibility if it is all to work?
I think that coaches need to be more flexible and understanding than they
are. It depends on the individual coach, but generally I feel that club
coaches need to be the more flexible ones, and let kids enjoy their participation
in high school sports. I think that athletes need to understand their
commitments and what each coach is asking for, if they are to participate
in more than one sport at the same time.
10.) What advice would you have for beginning 400 meter runners in Track
and Field?
I would just have to say train hard in practices and that there is not
really a technique to running the 400, other than to just run. I think
that for me, I have improved a lot from lifting weights throughout the
year and not just beginning in preseason.
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