Freshman girls making huge impact
One downside to having a large group of freshmen on a high school varsity soccer team is the lack of discipline when competing against senior-laden teams.
The Ida Baker girls’ team was presented with that scenario at a recent match against Riverdale.
Baker, which features an unusually large freshman class, looked unprepared to play early-on against the more experienced and physically stronger Raiders, and Bulldogs coach Dave Trepkowski said he had no choice but to pull some of his young players out of the game.
“We had to sit them out in the first half,” he said. “They’re just young and don’t yet know what it takes.”
Despite some of those learning experiences, the positives far outweigh the negatives. Not just for Baker, but other area schools like Cape Coral and Island Coast, both with a large group of freshmen.
Having a large number of incoming players ready to contribute at the varsity level is a clear sign of the strong competitive soccer programs in the Cape and throughout Southwest Florida.
Many players begin at the club/competitive level at about 5 or 6 years old.
“It’s just an influx of club players all hitting high school at the same time,” Seahawks first-year coach Dan Gross said.
The Seahawks, who have struggled in recent years, already are making strides in competing against the stronger area teams and believe they have a solid foundation for the future.
Gross has seven freshmen playing significant minutes. Among those are Jaimee Smith, Maria Farella, Victoria Reno, Emily Daniels, Samantha Morreal and Amanda Kopale.
Island Coast, which began competing at the junior varsity level this season, has a roster consisting primarily of freshmen and sophomores. The Gators hope to build around those players as they begin competing at the varsity level in 2009-2010.
Though Mariner doesn’t have as large a number, freshmen Emily DiRoma and Sara Peer have been key contributors this season.
Baker has a total of 12 freshmen this season and their wide range of talent has helped in virtually every area of the field.
Payton Van Horn (nine goals), Autumn Yesh (eight goals) and Brittney Herrera are among the players on the front line, who have sparked the offensive attack. Jordan Goffar, Emily Gibson and Brenna Hambsch have bolstered the midfield, while the defense has receives a lift from players like Meghan Turner and Sami Fischer.
Trepkowski said what has been encouraging is each player’s willingness to play different positions.
“Autumn Yesh, for example, plays defense on her competitive team and plays attacker for us, and she does it with no complaints,” he said.
Though the competitive level helps players develop, Trepkowski warned there is still an adjustment for players when they reach high school.
“One thing that has been mentioned by a number of girls is the aggressiveness and speed of play is a lot better at the high school level,” he said. “Also, they’re playing against girls their own age competitively, but in high school they’re playing against girls sometimes two or three years older.”
Now that the holiday break is over, teams resume regular season play Monday with Baker visiting Evangelical Christian and Mariner visiting Cypress Lake. On Tuesday, Mariner hosts East Lee County Tuesday while Baker hosts Lehigh in its special Breast Cancer Awareness game.
Cape High’s first game is Thursday at home against city rival Mariner.