Girls Soccer Team Gets Summer Workout
Dayton, OH (June 29, 2004) Practice makes perfect. And that's exactly what the Lady Spartan soccer team has begun to work on. The younger athletes of Valley View high have begun practice on the field as they went to Milton-Union's tournament over the weekend.
"Wins and losses weren't good, but we don't worry about those things. These were purely the freshman and sophomore players playing in the tournament," Coach Jeff Stiver said.
The team had three games during the tournament beginning on Friday against Bethel. The game ended with a 1-0 loss for the Spartans, but Stiver wasn't concerned with the score.
"Bethel doesn't have a junior varsity team, so basically we were playing their varsity players," Stiver commented.
"We go to these tournaments with the intention of seeing some of the kids we haven't necessarily gotten to see a lot. We want to figure out the best positions and it gives us the opportunity to watch what these kids can do," Stiver noted.
During the Bethel game Casie Whitaker made the goal, assisted by Alexis Pal.
On Saturday, the Lady Spartans went up against Kenton Ridge, ending in a scoreless tie, then went up against Northwestern falling, 1-0.
"We don't get hung up with winning. It is a tournament and there's a trophy, but we will continue to take the JV team to a tournament in order to get them experience and give them a chance to start working on things before the fall season begins," Stiver mentioned.
In the summer everything is about improving and the only way to improve is by practicing. Stiver gives the girls the opportunity to be instructed early on, so they will be able to practice what they've learned throughout the remainder of the summer.
"We want to see if this kid can play that position and we go with that in our minds. We have some fun and laugh. It gives us the opportunity to talk about some things and start to correct some of their errors," said Stiver.
The improvement has just begun and Stiver knows that, but he was also extremely pleased to see how much the girls improved in just three games.
"The first game was tough. I don't think the girls were scared, but they seemed to have a deer in a headlight look. But by the end of the third game they had all improved a lot," Stiver stated.
No one girl could be picked out of the pack for most improved, because everyone had improved drastically. But of course they all have a lot farther to go.
"We started out a little slower and less aggressive and by the end of the weekend they started to come around. I saw a lot of improvement and I couldn't just pick out one person because they all had their moments," Stiver said.
"We had 10 freshmen there and sometimes eight on the field and that's a lot of inexperience. They all got their feet wet and that's good," Stiver added.
Throughout the summer many of the girls will be practicing in other leagues and just on their own. That's exactly what Stiver wants to see. Winning isn't everything.
"Winning is not important in these tournaments. It's about getting the kids in the game and getting them that experience. All the kids learned something," Stiver said.
