Written by Brynn Kolbrek
Have you ever wondered how an athlete on the University of Northwestern – St. Paul Women’s Soccer (UNWWS) team physically and mentally prepares for gameday? Haley Mersberger, Captain of the UNWWS team, gave us an inside look into the answer to this question.
Mersberger starts her gameday preparation the evening before gameday. She begins by eating a good dinner balanced with carbs and protein. She then finishes out her evening by consuming a large glass of water.
After a solid 8 hours of sleep, Mersberger cooks up three eggs with ham and a piece of whole wheat toast with some peanut butter. She ends the meal by consuming yet again another large glass of water.
Since the game starts at 7pm, Mersberger goes on a walk at 1pm to get the body moving.
When she arrives home from her walk, she eats a heavy lunch and, again, washes it all down with a large glass of water.
Before leaving for the field, she does a devotional and drinks one more large glass of water.
Mersberger arrives on campus and makes her first stop at Coach Danny’s office to check-in and say hi. She then meets up with Captain Mallory Moseman and Naomi Meehan to grab the Jerseys and laundry bags from the laundry room.
Neatly, the captains hang each player’s jersey on their locker and prepare the locker room for everyone else to come in.
Once Haley and the team are dressed and ready, they do a team devotional, Coach Danny comes in and they are then ready to go.
When Mersberger was asked if she has any superstitions before each game, she said,
“Well, it has gotten better. When I was little, I wore an Alex Morgan jersey under my uniform every game. I decided that was a bit much and now I have to wear my hair in a ponytail with purple pre-wrap.”
Now we all know how an athlete on the UNWWS team physically and mentally prepares for a game.
