Teamwork; the key to success in sports. This year, the boys’ soccer team has really tried to implement working together, especially with trying to replace the seniors they lost last year and figuring out the new coaching style their new coach has brought.
In high school, teams change every year when seniors graduate. Last year, the boys soccer team lost a lot of seniors that had big roles on the team. This year, the boys have to try to replace that senior class.
“There’s definitely a lot more underclassmen on the team this year, myself included, and we’re doing our best to replace them,” said sophomore Callum Pugh.
The senior class this year is also big, which has helped because lots of them already have varsity experience.
“A lot of juniors that played last year—so they’re seniors now—have already been accumulated to varsity, and now they’ve been put in positions,” said senior Raijko Baker.
The senior class this year has tried to step into their roles as seniors by leading as example and helping the younger boys out during practice.
“It’s been tough to replace the seniors, but as long as we have leadership and people have been able to step up and fill their positions, it hasn’t been too difficult,” said Harris
With trying to fill the spots of the seniors, the boys are also trying to adapt and work with the new coach.
“It’s shifting from an older coaching style to a newer coaching style, and it’s been rough, but I feel like we’re getting better every single day in practice,” said Pugh.
The boys are getting used to the new coach and are starting to feel confident with the new style.
“He definitely brought a new dynamic to the team. As a leading head coach along with another coach that likes to lead, it’s been very good to have more drive. But it’s been really fun and it’s just brought a different experience to practice in the season,” said Baker.
The boys feel like they are being pushed by their new coach, but to a good extent and they are still having fun.
Another part of the team dynamic is the chemistry the team has. Junior Brad Coto is new to this team and school. He has played at many other schools, and even in other countries.
One thing that stood out to Coto was how welcoming the team and coaches have been. “They make you feel part of the team. Everyone just gets along. It feels like I’ve already been here before,” said Coto.
This year, the team feels like they are all close. This has helped them play well together.
“I feel like we’re really connected. We’ve got good chemistry this year. We’re on a six game win streak,” said senior Rylan Howe.
It is always good to set goals in sports, according to Davidson. If the players know what they want to achieve, they have a better chance at reaching it. The boys have set a few goals for themselves this year.
“One of our goals is to win sectionals and have a good conference standing. Another one of our goals is to get past regionals, something that we’ve never won,” said junior Cade Davidson.
Last year, the team lost in sectionals and were very disappointed. This year, they want to make up for their past loss.
FC is hosting sectionals this year for boys soccer and the team wants everyone to try and come to the games and watch as they try to accomplish their goals.
Like all sports, the boys have two specific teams they want to beat this year. Both of these teams are in the same sectional as Floyd, and the boys play both teams in the regular season.
“I want to beat New Albany the most. I’ve got a lot of friends on that team. I just want to beat them,” said Pugh.
New Albany is a common rival for Floyd and the desire to beat them continues with the soccer boys.
“The team I want to beat the most is Jeff,” said Harris.
Another common rival across all Floyd sports is Jeffersonville. The game against Jeff is normally a close and exciting game, and the boys don’t expect anything else this year when playing against Jeff.
The sectional schedule will be released soon, but the teams in the sectional are Bedford North Lawrence, Floyd Central, Jeffersonville, Jennings County, New Albany, and Seymour.
