Spartan soccer prepared to battle

Justin Seward
Times Reporter

 

After more than a month of conditioning sessions and with try-outs complete, the Strathmore Spartans boys soccer 20-man roster has been announced, and head coach Kaitrin McDonnell was fortunate to bring most of her players back.
“So far … we don’t use a ball,” said McDonnell, referring to the preseason winter dry land sessions. “It’s getting their endurance up. We’re out there running in the cold as much as we can. The improvement is mostly lungs and legs. I started with a couple of kids who couldn’t do a lap without wheezing. Now they do two laps to warm up every day.”
The selection process was tough this season because there were 45 players who tried out, but the team had to be trimmed down to 20 athletes. What she saw in the last week of try-outs was commitment issues, which helped her decide which players to keep and which to cut.
“But mostly our skill this year for just who showed up to play is night and day compared to last year,” said McDonnell. “I was fortunate in my first year to have highly skilled players. Last year we played with who we had and it was a very trying year last year and this year we have a chance to win some games.”
She added that what will help them win games is the two strong lines of mid-fielders, and said they will be effective with their legs, endurance and high skill level.
Overall, if the team can mesh well together, win at least two games and move out of eighth place at zones, that’ll be a successful year in McDonnell’s books.
“We definitely have a team that shouldn’t be taking losses easily,” she said.
The team will play exhibition games in Brooks at the end of April before opening up the regular season at Foothills Composite on May 2.