M. Soccer club lives for game

Run from the campus to the boat docks. Then stretch. Run up and down eight hills. Stretch again. Finally run back to campus. A combined traveling distance of about six miles. Above are the ingredients of a serious practice for a team playing with much on the line. Who would subject themselves to this torment if they were playing for only self-satisfaction and the love of sport? The answer to this question lies with the dedicated members of Penn men's soccer club, who practice five times a week in preparation for a season without any home games nor a certain schedule. The club consists of former varsity players who still want to play soccer, high school stars who couldn't make the varsity and a variety of others. But they all share the common traits of a love of the game and a will to win. Those two characteristics might explain the intensity of their practices. While team president Jeff Miller said running exorbitant distances in practice is unusual, conditioning takes up much of practice time as does skill work. It doesn't sound nor seem like practices are too much fun. Therefore, what is surprising is the level of commitment from the participants given the lack of tangible incentives such as the championships varsity teams vie for. "These guys don't have any reward to look forward to," Miller said. "Nevertheless, they come out and work hard and try to have fun." Other than an opening game at Princeton next Saturday, the season is indefinite. The club is presently trying to schedule games against local clubs and schools before a possible entry into an indoor league for the winter season. The club, made up of all classes, has considerable talent but maintains simple objectives. "Our goal is to play together as a team and just have a good time," Miller said. · Last weekend, the oldest intercollegiate team in America, according to its captain, began yet another season. The Penn cricket club fell at the hands of Yale in its initial match, and will try to even its record this Sunday at Franklin and Marshall. The club competes against a few local cricket clubs and several Ivy League foes each year. Competition is limited since relatively few universities have active cricket clubs. The root of the problem is that cricket's descendant, baseball, has taken hold and finding an American youngster who has been exposed to the sport is a rarity. Fielding an 11-man team is a difficult process. "We really have to search for players here, and most of the players we find have lived elsewhere such as Southeast Asia, where they learned how to play," fifth-year captain Murtaza Ali said. In its inaugural match more than 100 years ago, Penn opposed Haverford College, which now has one of the best and only varsity cricket teams in the country.