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Creighton soccer coach Bob Warming must have missed the Coaching 101 class the day they went over how to react to glitzy preseason rankings.
Warming's Bluejays are second in the College Soccer News poll, the first of the preseason rankings to appear. Instead of delivering the standard response on how preseason rankings mean nothing, Warming's reaction to the news is an emphatic “Wonderful.''
“I've never understood why guys (downplay) that,'' Warming said. “I want our guys to be the best in the country every day of the week.
“We know we haven't kicked the ball yet and we do have a lot to prove, but this is what you work for. You want people to think that your team is one of the best teams. We know we already get everyone's best effort. That makes for great games.''
Creighton likely will find itself perched among the leaders when other rankings are released in the coming weeks. The Bluejays return nine starters from the team that finished 16-2-2 and reached the Elite Eight of the NCAA tournament before losing 1-0 to eventual national champion Maryland.
Many of the Creighton players are spending the summer in Omaha instead of scattering to play for teams across the country. Warming said the coaches and players were so encouraged by gains made during the offseason conditioning program run by strength coach Zach Duval that they wanted to continue the workouts throughout the summer.
Some of the players are working Creighton's summer soccer camps, the first of which had some international flavor. The camp, for high school-aged players, concluded Thursday and included players from Peru, Grenada and Japan.
“The Internet is wonderful,'' Warming said. “We do very little advertising for our camps, but the soccer community is basically a small world. We rely on word of mouth. A lot of times, a guy had a good experience at our camp and tells his friends about it.''
The Japanese player, from Higashi, traveled more than 8,700 miles to attend the camp.
“He was here two years ago, loved it and decided to come back,'' Warming said.
A late-May trip to Peru for a series of exhibition games brought the Bluejay program into contact with the player from that country.
“Evidently, nothing like this exists in his country,'' Warming said. “So he and his father flew here. They had a great time.''
Warming said players from 24 states attended the camp.
“They're probably hearing the same thing from their coaches back home,'' Warming said. “Sometimes, though, when it comes from a different voice it makes more of an impact.''
Contact the writer:
679-2298, steve.pivovar@owh.com
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