There seems to be a lot of debate recently on the necessity/relevance of the dreaded fitness testing in the world of college soccer.  There are a lot of reasons these tests are utilized by nearly every college program.  I would go so far as to correlate our fitness testing with each of our six core values—CAPPLE.   1. Commitment:  we turn away A LOT of good players, by selecting a recruit we are making a huge commitment, issuing a golden ticket to our program.  And it’s a 2-way street where they must now demonstrate a huge commitment to us.  Taking the summer fitness packet seriously and putting in the work to pass the tests are part of that commitment. 2. Accountability: the women’s soccer preseason is perilously short.  If you don’t arrive fit, it’s too late.  It’s necessary for us to have measurable results on day 1 to know what we’re dealing with, and holding people accountable to this is part of our culture. 3. Preparation:  there will be times that we will not be the biggest, fastest, strongest, or most technical, but fitness is a controllable and we vow to always be the most prepared in that regard. 4. Passion: We talk a lot about playing with Passion and bringing the game alive.  This involves things on many levels, but players who have the fitness levels to run down attackers, put pressure on backs and win a ball on a breakaway in the 90th minute when fatigue is high are going to be able to demonstrate more passion than those who can’t. 5. Love:  we recently changed from Loyalty to Love because we feel Love encompasses loyalty.  This core value is all about our connectivity and willingness to go to great lengths for each other.  Having players nearly dragging each other across the finish lines is part of age-old bonding that is hard to replicate in other facets of life.  Working hard to pass these tests is a big part of demonstrating our love and loyalty to each other. 6. Excellence: Many will say these tests don’t correlate to performing well on the field, and there certainly could be some examples.  We talk about the fact that being good is not enough, we strive for excellent, and having the physical stamina and mental grit to get through these tests sets you apart from the ordinary athlete. Do the work and go be excellent. #WeDoHard #TribeSoccer @WMTribeWSOC