Most people probably don't take ice baths or play Gatorade pong as part of their regular regimen.
But Penn soccer players Alex Fairman, Ryan Porch, Johnny Elicker and Lee Rubenstein are no strangers to either of those.
The four have known each other since middle school. Back then, they played for FC Delco, an elite club team based in eastern Pennsylvania.
"We all played on different club teams until we were 12 years old," Fairman said. "Then we'd play on 'select' teams that would bring us together, and coaches saw how we played together. The Delco coaches pretty much knew who they wanted from those 'select' teams."
Rubenstein, who is a year younger and played in a different age group than the other three, added that "we talked amongst each other to decide which club to join. Delco had a great name."
Six years later, it came time to pick colleges. Elicker and Porch ended up at Penn, while Fairman went to Georgetown before transferring to Penn before this season.
While their decisions were made independently of one another, Fairman and Rubenstein said they were influenced by the fact that Elicker and Porch were already at Penn.
"I talked to [Porch and Elicker] a lot," Rubenstein said. "That they went to Penn, it was a greater incentive for me to come, because I knew the players, and it was something I wanted to be a part of."
After Fairman transferred this year, the four defenders started their first game together against Rutgers on Oct. 17.
"It was a cool experience that we all enjoyed because we're so comfortable together," Elicker said.
They worked out over the summer, and they emphasized developing their chemistry together.
"It takes time to develop that kind of bond on the field," Porch said. "But we already did that a long time ago. We can just play now."
Rubenstein speculated that next season, fans could get used to seeing the four backliners starting together a lot more often.
All of them are good friends off the field. Elicker and Porch are roommates, while the other two played tennis together when they were five years old.
And they have no problem poking fun at each other. A red-faced Rubenstein sat and listened to his teammates recount stories of his G-rated exploits with the girls' club teams - as recently as three years ago.
"Lee used to try to get the girls' teams that were at our hotels for tournaments and try to get them to play 'Gatorade pong,'" Fairman said. "They'd set up a table and cups and be like 'yeah, let's play some Gatorade pong.' He did this at every tournament.'"
The sophomore got his though, divulging that Fairman "screamed like a little girl when the Delco coach made him get in an ice bath. He was the only one who wouldn't do it."
But they get down to business on the field. Thanks to their play, Penn coach Rudy Fuller said he is making a greater effort to recruit Delco players.
"I think going forward, [Fuller] has aspirations of getting these networks of players," Rubenstein said. "He's trying to start that legacy out with us."
