By Antony Stark
With more than 15 years of soccer experience, the Oak Hall boys varsity soccer team has welcomed its new head coach, Adam Christensen. Christensen coached soccer at The Rock School last season and led the team to an impressive undefeated record, and a trip to the state tournament.
Christensen’s first soccer experiences occurred at five years old in Palm Harbor, Fla. “At the time, I hated soccer because I got stung by a bee and wanted to quit because soccer was ‘dangerous’,” stated Christensen. He continued to play though and played through middle school, high school and eventually into college.
Christensen moved to Indianapolis for high school and attended Covenant Christian High School (CCH) which, even seven years later, is notorious for its soccer program. When Christensen attended, schools around the area knew about CCH’s soccer talent on the field, but the athletes were also known for their intense summer workouts. “There were days we ran 6 miles with 50-pound sandbags,” he explained. “To play on the team you had to run 2 miles in under 12 minutes and 30 seconds,” Christensen continued. At CCH, Christensen was a consistent striker, and by his senior year he was one of the leading goal-scorers in Indiana.
Soccer wasn’t Christensen’s only sport, as he participated in cross country and track and field, where he also excelled. After graduating from CCH, Christensen attended Lee University, a Division II program in Cleveland, Tenn., where he ran cross country, and track and field. This was Christensen’s favorite school out of the three he attended. “It was absolutely beautiful, the location was great, and the athletic teams are and were phenomenal,” he reminisced.
Christensen transferred to Trevecca Nazarene University in Nashville to run track and play soccer. After Trevecca, Christensen transferred to Hampden-Sydney in Virginia to play for its Division II soccer team. By the end of his collegiate career, Christensen played for seven head coaches in six semesters, graduating in four years with a major in biology and a minor in chemistry.
Christensen believes in fundamentals, and how the beginning of the year should focus on improving basic fundamentals so players can then go straight into tactics and other types of skills. “If you don’t build from a base of fundamentals, you are never going to reach your potential,” Christensen explained. “I can’t begin to teach the game of soccer until my players are physically fit enough to do what I need them to,” he continued.
Christensen is excited to make the boys soccer program his own and is looking forward to the many changes he will implement. “I think that anyone who comes out to our games or watches our practices are going to see something different and exciting happening here are Oak Hall when it comes to men’s soccer,” emitted Christensen. This year is definitely a year of change for Oak Hall’s boys soccer program and Christensen is excited to share his extended knowledge of the game to the players.