MONTGOMERY, Ala. | Many associate Midnight Madness with the opening of the collegiate basketball season, but that is not the case in the capital city of Alabama.

For the fourth consecutive year, Alabama State and head coach Jodie Smith will open preparations for the 2019 season with their annual Midnight Madness event at the ASU Soccer Complex. The event is a way for the coaching staff to get the players on the field together in the early morning hours and knock the first practice out of the way, not to mention to get work in by avoiding the excessive heat in Alabama during the month of August.

In the past three seasons, Alabama State has used the time in many different formats. They have used the first official practice as a way of getting together to complete their fitness test, to work through individual and team skills, and to conduct an intra-squad scrimmage.

This year's event takes place August 6 (Tuesday), beginning at 12:01 am – the first allowable practice for NCAA soccer. All practices during camp are open to the public.

Quotable from head coach Jodie Smith
"I am looking forward to what has become a preseason training tradition. The annual Black and Gold game will open up training camp, and it will be the first time our returning players will be field with our signees."­­­­

"The staff will select the teams for the night, and we will get early look into where the players might fit in to our overall scheme and alignment for the upcoming season. Each team will organize themselves, conduct warm-ups and play. It gives the coaching staff a peak into the personalities of the new players as well as see if the returning players are ready to take on a leadership role."

 "Going early will give them a chance to get good sleep. Then we can hit the field for our first training session late in the morning."

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Alabama State soccer won back-to-back SWAC championships in 2016 and 2017, their first in school history. The Lady Hornets appeared in four of five championship games prior to the 2018 season, while head coach Jodie Smith picked up career win 175 during the 2018 season at Alabama State.

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For complete coverage of Alabama State University women's soccer, please follow the Hornets on social media @BamaStateWSC (Twitter), /BamaStateSports (Facebook) and @BamaStateSports (Instagram) or visit the official home of Alabama State athletics at BamaStateSports.com.