Q&A: Knights soccer phenom Nik Robson

Nik Robson, UCF's New Zealand-born goal-scoring sensation, is focusing his summer on getting better and preparing for his sophomore season with the Knights.

After playing with the MLS's Chicago Fire Premiere Development League, Robson is now training at Performance Athletix in Minneapolis, Minn., an elite training facility that trains professional athletes.

The Central Florida Future caught up with Robson to see how his training was going.

Central Florida Future: How was everything in Chicago with the Chicago Fire PDL?

Nik Robson: Well, Chicago wasn't what I thought. I don't want to talk [bad] about another team, you know what I mean? But like, they had a really good group of players from a lot of schools around the country. There was a lot of top 25 teams [represented] and about two or three players from each team. But, it kind of made me realize how our team (UCF) is really close; and when you try to throw together a bunch of great players, it might not be good straight away. You know what I mean?

CFF: How long did you guys practice for together before playing in a game?

Robson: A week.

CFF: How did the season go?

Robson: Well it's still going on right now. I didn't get a goal, but I had a few assists. They were playing me in a different position than what I was used to.

CFF: They weren't playing you as a striker?

Robson: They played me further back. But it wasn't my game; I was kind of playing out of position. I mean, I've played there before, but I don't think that's where I'm supposed to be playing. I don't think that's where my skills lie.

CFF: So where are you at now?

Robson: I'm in Minneapolis now, training for two weeks at an elite facility. I've decided I needed to prep for the fall season and just train all the way through. With (Chicago Fire PDL's) team training, I wasn't going to improve individually. I have the option to where I want to train.

CFF: What is this training thing that you're doing now?

Robson: It isn't even soccer. It's for professional and collegiate athletes trying to go up to the next level. The guy I'm training with is really well-respected and considered to be elite.

CFF: What are some of the things you do?

Robson: Well, at the moment, I'm currently destroyed. It's incredible. Like, we do two training sessions a day. This morning, I was on a treadmill. I ran for a minute, and [my trainer] kicked up [the RPMs]. And then he kept doing it. And then I was doing interval sprints on the treadmill. He had me sprint until I couldn't do it anymore. I did that 24 times; sprinting as fast as I could, for as long as I could, until I fell off the treadmill. I don't think I've ever trained as intense as that. I'm dead right now.

CFF: Seems like you'll be prepared for next season then. Where are you headed after Minneapolis?

Robson: Back to Orlando where I start training. I can kind of start focusing on myself. Also, a lot of the team will be there as well, so we can push each other.

CFF: What are some of your goals for next season?

Robson: Well, team-wise I think everyone wants to win the conference and I think that's a realistic goal considering how we did last year and the new players we got. And we didn't lose any players. For me, I want to score 20 goals. And I want to be an All-American.

CFF: What do you think about the soccer stadium being expanded?

Robson: I think everyone is pretty excited about that. We had like 2,000 people at the SMU game last year and it really helped us out a lot. I think we can get more of that at the new stadium.