Winter Soccer Leagues Underway

Senior Zac Brooks competes on a

Senior Zac Brooks competes on a

by David Thomsen and Hanna King

Both the boys and girls soccer teams are looking to improve dramatically for the upcoming spring season. By participating in winter-league soccer, both teams hope to get in shape and prepare for the season.

Soccer at AHS is transitioning more and more into a year-round sport as the seasons go by. When Jordan Newberg took over as girls head coach last spring, he and new assistant coach Daniel Vargason sought to improve the girls team in more ways than one. To do this, weekly informal practices are being arranged to improve and sharpen the players skills in assorted gyms within Atlantic.

There are 26 girls signed up, and Coach Vargason expects 10-15 girls to show up for the winter league on any given night because there are other conflicts such as dance, homework, and other sports. Vargason said, “Coach Newberg and I strongly believe the winter league improves skills. There are many skills that take time to develop, and winter league allows these skills that take time to develop and winter league allows those skills to improve.”

Based on the sign ups, there are at least 6-7 new girls from 10-12 grade, and there are another 4-5 freshman who have signed up. Some are just trying it out this winter to see if it’s what they want to do in the spring. The league starts this Sunday, Nov. 2 and ends around March 2015. Sundays are in the high school gym and Mondays are in the Schuler gym, and times vary depending on the night. Vargason said, ”Coach Newberg and I haven’t sat down and set specific goals, but we want to continue to improve our play and start winning the close games that we haven’t been able to win.”

Meanwhile, the boys soccer team is preparing for the upcoming season in a similar fashion. Just like the girls, the boys also are having informal practices multiple times each week either indoors or outside, depending on the weather. But in addition, the boys team is competing in an indoor soccer league in La Vista, NE, to enhance their skills.

Former AHS soccer player and 2012 CAM graduate Dakota Watson is in charge of the boys team in the league. “The team has performed exceptionally well so far. I’m very impressed with the progress we have made as a team in just the short time that we have,” said Watson. “Originally going in this season, I think some players were skeptical due to past experience of recent years.  owever, being 2-0 with large goal differentials in both games, the team’s attitude seems to be at a very positive level, and I hope that continues to the end.”

According to Watson, the purpose of the boys winter league is to keep players involved with soccer all year as well as “continuing to improve skills and build more chemistry between teammates.”

“Players should want to play in the winter league because not only is it giving the team an opportunity to get better, it is also teaching them a different style of play which will only benefit each individual that much more when they start the official season,” said Watson.

If you’re interested in winter soccer, girls can contact Vargason, and boys can contact to Justin Williams or Watson for more information.