Dawning of a new era, WMS begin soccer programs

WORLAND- With the recent success and overall success of the Worland High School soccer programs one would assume the Worland Middle School soccer program has been a great feeder for the Lady Warrior and Warriors teams.

That assumption would be wrong as 2016 will be the inaugural soccer season for the Worland Middle School Braves.

Girls coach Vanessa Keller and boys coach Jesus Davila are both ecstatic at building the program from scratch with the goal to establish Worland as a perennial soccer power that rivals Jackson and the other top schools in the state.

Getting to that goal, each coach stressed the importance of cohesiveness with the high school programs by working with coaches Danielle Warren and Ron Overcast.

"At the beginning of the season we worked with coach Warren to draw up goals for the teams in order to build a championship program on both levels," coach Keller said. "To do that we've been using the same terminology and teaching the same philosophies as the high school girls, that way when the middle school players move on to high school they'll already know what's going on."

"We want to have a vertical alignment with coach Overcast and the high school program; we'll teach the boys how to play defense and offense. We want the players to grow in every aspect, technically, physically, tactically and mentally. So that way when they get to high school we aren't starting from the beginning and they have a higher soccer IQ," said coach Davila.

The two coaches also noted how they make it a point to watch the high school teams when they have home matches. As their players can watch soccer being played at a higher level and take notes on what it takes to play Lady Warrior and Warrior soccer.

With the potential for a player to have six full seasons playing organized soccer under their belt the benefits from that experience will only be an added edge for Worland soccer.

The number of girls and boys out for this first year of Braves soccer has been promising. The girls team has 20 girls out, nine of whom are playing the sport for the very first time. With only 20 girls it wasn't enough to field two teams so for this season the seventh and eighth graders will play as one team.

"It has been exciting watching these girls play and learn the game of soccer. Each day in practice they push themselves and keep improving," said coach Keller

For the boys they have 28 players out, 14 for the seventh grade and 14 for the eighth grade allowing them to split into two separate teams.

"With this group there isn't any of that 'you're a seventh-grader or you're an eighth-grader' I ask for a group of three and they step-up. Even when the inexperienced players are paired with the experienced ones you can see the inexperienced players pick up their play and the experienced players offer encouragement," said coach Davila on his team.

Worland isn't the only first-timer in middle school soccer as Buffalo and Newcastle are also navigating through their first years too. And for this season Worland will compete against Buffalo, Newcastle and Gillette, who has two schools Sage Valley and Twin Spruce.

With soccer still fairly new at the middle school level the season will be shorter than other sports and there won't be a conference tournament. That would be another goal for the young soccer program. Since Worland, Newcastle and Buffalo have started soccer teams the hope is other schools will join in to create a conference tournament and add a few more games to the schedule.

So far both boys and girls teams have played one game against Buffalo. And all three teams picked up their historic first wins. The girls won 8-0. "We had been focusing on our defense and stressing to the girls the importance of defense. Not only did they get a shutout but also scored eight goals, it was a great way to start the season and program," commented Keller.

The boys seventh-grade team won 6-2 and the eighth-grade team also won 1-0. "It was so great to see both teams compete in their first games and also pick up the first wins in school history," said coach Davila.

Each coach has told their players that each game they play is historic and something they should be excited about. Another first for each team will come this Saturday as the Braves and Lady Braves will host their first home matches in school history against the two Gillette teams.

Both coaches are excited and look forward to the growth of the players and the program. They'd also like to thank all of those, from coaches, organizers and parents, who continue in promoting soccer in the early stages.  Also thanks to the current high school soccer coaching staff, the administrators Mr. Miller, Mr. Clark, Mr. Stott and Mr. Nicholas and special thanks to the Board of Trustees because without their approval and support this program wouldn't be a reality.

If you're looking to witness history come down to the Worland High School soccer fields Saturday, April 23. The Lady Braves will start at 10:30 a.m. with another game at 1 p.m. The seventh-grade Braves will play at 10:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. and eighth-grade Braves will start at 11:30 a.m. and 2 p.m.