A Day in The Life of a Major League Soccer Player: Ben Sippola

To start off this post, I would first like to congratulate Jake Gibbons on being offered a professional contract in Europe. I have known and played with Jake for a good part of the last decade and he is very deserving of such an honor and accomplishment. It is great to see other Minnesotan's getting a shot at the next level. Congrats to Jake and his family.

So, I thought since most youth soccer players in Minnesota rarely get the chance to interact with professional soccer players (at least I was rarely given this opportunity), I would give a sort of run down of what my average day consists of as a professional footballer. I have been with the Columbus Crew for the past five months and my daily routine has been fairly consistent for the majority of that time, excluding the first two months of preseason where I lived out of a suitcase in various hotels across the country. Here is how I employ the twenty-four hours of a natural day.

7:45 am- Wake up and eat breakfast. Breakfast usually consists of something high in carbohydrates with some protein. My favorite choice is oatmeal with fruit and yogurt. Most of my teammates eat a small breakfast. The guy I carpool with eats a bag of fruit snacks and two granola bars on the road. I like to eat something hearty to sustain my energy for practice.

8:45 am- Report to the training facility. Practices usually begin at 10:00 am and the standard time for all players to report is 9:15 am, however I like to get to practice early. This allows me to get in any treatment that I might need and some extra ball work before the organized practice begins.

9:30 am-10:00 am- By this time most players are out on the field and ready to practice. Common activities during this time are soccer tennis and 5 v 2.

10:00 am-11:30 am- Coaches report to the field and official practice begins. Practices are usually about 75 to 90 minutes in length and consist of a dynamic warm up intermixed with passing drills, moving to small sided possession with goals in tight, and ending with a large field game and crossing and finishing.

11:30 am-11:45 am- During this time, I like to stay after practice and do some extra work, shooting, passing, dribbling, etc.

12:00 pm-12:45 pm- Team Video Session with coaching staff. During this time we watch video of ourselves and our opponents. The club usually provides lunch for the players at this time from Subway, City BBQ, and KING GYRO. On days where we do not watch video this time is usually allocated for a team lifting session run by the training staff.

1:00 pm- Team obligations are terminated and players can go home. This is also the time to get any extra treatment. I usually hang around to do some final stretching.

2:00pm-5:00pm- Down time. I like to go fly fishing or take a nap. Today I did both.

6:00 pm- Dinner. I eat Chipotle too much.

7:00 pm-8:00pm- Second work out. About 4 times a week I like to do a second work out outside of training. This workout is very light and usually consists of injury prevention exercises like stretching and yoga.

8:00 pm- Bedtime- Sometimes I go fishing again, haha. However most of the time, I like to just hang out watch TV, blog, call home to Minnesota, hang out with friends etc.

So, that is an average day in the life of Ben Sippola. As you can see professional athletes have a lot of downtime. The challenge is finding something productive to do during this time and to not fall into a monotonous lifestyle. I am definitely working on that aspect of my life, lately I have been coaching a soccer team made up of refugee children in the Columbus area and I have also been coaching Ohio ODP. I have also been perfecting my fly fishing cast.

Thanks for tuning in and for those of you lucky enough to be living and fishing in the Land O' 10 Thousand Lakes,

Tight Lines,

Sip

IK Skovbakken news

Exciting times in Aarhus. I trained with just the 1^st team for the past few days. After training yesterday, the team manager called me into his office…I knew it was going to be good or bad. He said they are going to offer me a contract! I don’t have all the details yet and hope to get more during the next few days. I will be playing in the final league game with the 1^st team  on Saturday and then my trial period with IK Skovbakken will be done.

I still have to figure out details of the offer and I might go back to Norway or on to Sweden looking for more soccer. The down side is that things are wrapping up in all the Northern Europe seasons. I guess my first goal of getting a team interested enough for a contract offer is accomplished.

I also tried to make a carrot cake for my host family today. We couldn't quite figure out what american baking powder was in Danish ingredients and I guessed wrong. Sort of a flat cake, but should still taste good I hope.

Joga Bonito,
Jake

IK Skovbakken

Wed 6/8. It’s been a few exciting days since my last post. I have been training with IK Skovbakken 1st team and things have been going well. I did pick up a knock at training on Tuesday where during a dribbling speed drill I popped my hip-flexor. I didn’t want to sit out, so I did my best to keep training. By the end the coach called me over and asked what was wrong. I told him and he sent me right to the trainer. Good thing for me that Wednesdays are a day off, when a game is to be played on Saturdays. With some ice, treatment and day off, it feels much better, but not 100%.

My host Calle Graversen took me over to Aarhus facilities on Tuesday. We got to walk around the pitch, check out the locker rooms and meet a few players who were working out. I did not get the opportunity to train with AGF Aarhus or Fredmann. They have a partnership with IK Skovbakken (a 3rd division team 3 places behind AGF Fredmann in the standings.) AGF Fredmann is also 3rd division, but will most likely be moving up to 2nd through playoffs. AGF Aarhus is going back to 1st division. They are not looking to sign any international players until promotion/relegation is figured out. Because they are both moving up they are expecting they will have lots of interest from some top European players and academies. I guess I will just keep working hard and see where that takes me.

Joga Bonito,
Jake

Aarhus Day 2

Day 2 in Aarhus was full of firsts.  It was my first day of full training with a professional team, the first time meeting all the players on both the 1st and reserve team and the 1st time I've ever been thrown up top as a legitimate scoring threat!

I arrived for reserves team training a bit before 6 and saw the 1st team playing.  The coach, who I had meet the day before, yelled to me to hurry and throw my boots on! I ran to the locker room, laced up and sprinted to the practice field to jump in with the 1st team for the last half hour.  They had layed out my practice gear early so I was able to get out there quick! I played with the 1st team for 30 minutes, scored a couple goals in 4v4 (teams of 8 with alternating sides when you get scored on) and met the team.  If I had to say how I fit in Id say for it being the first time I played with them I was fitting in well.  The pace was quick but I found myself getting a lot of people in on goal and scoring more than most.  After meeting the team the coach told me to come to 1st team practice tomorrow!

I then went back to the locker room, changed shirts and went out with the reserves.  We did 3 different drills in all, each for 30 minutes.  The first was half field keep away with a target area in each corners that you could score in...you had to either pass it in or dribble it into the target area and connect with a new player.  The second drill was the same as the last one the first team did, 4v4 with alternating shifts every 2 minutes...my team won all 3 games to 5 and I scored the majority or our goals.  This is when my last first of the day comes into play.

After training, the Reserve Trainer came to me and asked "I thought you said you played central midfield, do you want to play striker in our reserve match?" I was shocked and wasn't sure if I wanted to say 'I was just feeling it today, I wouldnt do that if I were you' or 'Yes, I'll score a hat trick for you!'  Either way I haven't played striker for 90 minutes since I was 11 or 12 so if I do play up top this week, they may be a bit disappointed.

I'll be taking pictures on my phone before training tomorrow of the stadium, practice facility and locker room!

Joga Bonito

Jake

Oslo to Aarhus Denmark

Today is day 1 in Aarhus.  It is mid day here and I don’t train until 6pm this evening, so I’ll take this opportunity to write an update for the last few days.

While in Oslo, the city felt very different. Yet my Norwegian friends told me that Oslo is very similar to Minneapolis, probably as close as you can get to a “Minneapolis feel” in Scandinavia.  It was interesting being in an 'old’ city, where the buildings are built right up to the edge of the street. I seemed odd that with plenty of room for two way traffic and parking along the streets, everything was still packed so tightly. I suppose it seemed like a ‘typical’ euro city, but I haven’t been to many yet. 

Oslo is very young and urban. Lots of people in their 20s.  The clothing style is REALLY different, especially the men. More feminine style than I expected. I guess my euro friends at the U, really toned things down when they came to the states!  Deep V-Necks are huge and lots of very colorful shorts rolled up with your typical converse All-Stars.  Soccer is on all the time in pubs and restaurants, even with the number of European leagues winding down. Awesome!

Saturday evening I took a ferry from Oslo to Frederikshavn, Denmark. I wasn’t really sure what type of boat I was to being riding,  except the fact that it was going to take about 12 hours.  The boat was essentially a cruise ship, 3 floors were reserved for passengers cabin while the rest were restaurants, spas, clubs and a casino.  I wish I had more energy to check them out but the only places I went were the buffet at 6:30am when I woke up, and I also checked out the top deck to view the city coming into port.  The cabin was pretty cool though, 2 beds (I was nervous to be sharing it with someone and that could have been awkward) but luckily it was all mine so I slept like a baby.  After docking I walked to the train station and took a 3 hr ride to Aarhus where I was picked up by a club associate and taken to the house I am staying.

I had my first taste of Danish soccer that afternoon during a short kick about.  I trained with the reserves and all we did was a warm up with 5v2 keep away, then some passing followed by a finishing drill. So far, training both here and in Oslo, teams seem to have adopted the 'Ajax' blueprint for training. A lot of possession and touching of the ball followed by game like drills.  There isn’t much pointless time wasting during training.  Today marks the first real day of training. From now until Saturday is my opportunity to show what I can do in training, and also a couple of reserve matches.  Obtaining a VISA over the summer is the goal, which would require signing by a top division team. I will have to play some unreal soccer for sure. I learned that it will be difficult to get a work permit in Denmark, unless I make a top division club. 

I’m still hoping to upload some photographs, but I am still phone/data plan challenged. More later.

Joga Bonito

Jake

Ben Sippola Introduction

Dear MN Futbol Blog Follower,

My name is Ben Sippola and I play for the Columbus Crew of Major League Soccer. My family currently resides in Northfield, Minnesota and I happily call The Land of Ten Thousand Lakes home. I began playing soccer in the 2nd grade when my family moved from Brainerd, Minnesota to Fort Collins, Colorado. I always tell people "If it were not for the move to Colorado, I would have most likely ended up a hockey player." I simply started playing soccer because there was little, if any, organized youth hockey in Fort Collins, however there was tons of youth soccer and everyone played on the school playground. Naturally, I drifted with my friends outside of the frozen arena and onto the pitch of the beautiful game and have not been far from a soccer field since.

After a three year stint in Colorado, my family returned to Minnesota however this time to the suburbs of Minneapolis St. Paul where soccer was undoubtedly a growing and popular sport. I played most of my youth soccer with Mahtomedi Soccer Association and the rest with Bangu Tsunami. Throughout junior high and high school, I also played for a number of ODP state and regional teams.

After my sophomore year at Mahtomedi high school, my family moved to Northfield midway between my mom's new job in Prior Lake and Faribault's college preparatory school, Shattuck St. Mary's. I spent my junior and senior years at Shattuck and was part of the first ever boy's soccer team coached by Tim Carter and David Linenberger. My time spent at Shattuck was invaluable in my progression as a soccer player and undoubtedly prepared me for the demands of the collegiate level on and off the field. I graduated in 2007 and in August moved to Indianapolis, Indiana to attend Butler University.

For those of you unfamiliar with Butler, it is the school whose basketball team makes the final four every year. Since Brad Stevens would not accept me as a walk on for the basketball team, I took my talents to the Men's Soccer team, playing all four years under head coach Kelly Findley. I loved nearly every minute that I spent at Butler and could not have chosen a better university to earn an education from and play soccer for.

After my senior year in which my Butler team held an undefeated regular season record of 16-0-3 and an at large bid into the second round of the NCAA tournament, I was drafted to the Columbus Crew. Being only three hours from Indianapolis, I could not have been happier to be headed to Columbus to begin my pursuit and long time dream of playing professional soccer. After a three week trial in the months of January and February, I was offered a contract and signed in early February with the team.

As of now, I am working hard to earn a spot in the first team lineup and could not be more thankful for the opportunity to kick balls around for a living, at least for the meantime.

In my free time I enjoy fly-fishing and although I do love soccer, my real passion revolves around cold rivers and trout. I look forward to interacting with all of you Up North via MN Futbol Blog and for now I will sign out with the common fly fishing phrase,

Tight Lines,

Sip

Oslo Norway

Before getting into the soccer stuff, I feel it is important to briefly touch on the travel aspect.

Its day...3 in Oslo? I say this because the time changes May 30th I left Minneapolis at 7:30 pm. On my way to Norway I changed planes in Iceland, I arrived there around 6:00am local time, very odd flying into a city when its early morning after a 5 hour flight from a Minneapolis evening. I left Iceland around 7:00am and arrived in Oslo at 1:00pm (13:00 here). The whole time I didn't catch a wink of sleep, which was/still is brutal!

Soccer started that evening at 8:00pm when I watch my friend  Lars Stormo and his 4th division team play a league match. Long story short they went up 3-0 in the 1st half, 70-30 possession and were strolling into a win. The 2nd half was a night and day difference. There goal keeper was sent off 15 minutes in, they gave up a pk and had to put in a 3rd string keeper. The team is currently missing 4 starters and their back-up keeper. They gave up 3 more goals after making a bunch of substitutions thinking they had the game in the bag and lost 4-3, epic fail!

After the disappointing result, I then went home and went straight to bed, about time. The next 2 days consisted of a run around Oslo and some touches in the evening. Today was day one of real training/practice. I got to kick around with Lars' team for one of there regular training sessions. The game is much more technical here and speed of play is quicker. The next few days will be more of the same, I'll be heading to Arhus, Denmark Sunday morning to start my 10 day, multi-club trial. Excited is a understatement.

With the number of holidays in Oslo this time of year is been hard to get a phone and be able to add pictures via twitter and mobile uploads but I'll be blogging more  in the coming days!

Joga Bonito

Jake