Following playoff losses in the 2022 season, the OHS boys and girls’ soccer team will kick off their first game of the season on Nov. 7.
Head coach Hunter Crane believes the team is working hard to prepare for their upcoming 2023 season as both teams recently began full practice in preparation for their first game.
“We’ve been in fifth block all through the fall where we have been rotating between weightlifting and fitness and things like that. We’ve also had some field sessions as well, but we just started full practice where we’re still including our weightlifting, but we’re getting full sessions in now, going until five every day and just working on different things that we’ve seen through the summer that we wanted to work on and just kind of fine tune some stuff,” Crane said.
The girls’ team has had to overcome some injuries during the preseason to make sure that they have everyone ready for the start of the season.
“For the girls program, we’ve had some injuries that we’ve had to endure. Emma Reader tore her ACL, TG Hamilton has been dealing with the meniscus, so just kind of trying to get everybody healthy on the girls side has been an obstacle. We’re getting close to getting everybody healthy and we’re getting healthy at a good time because we’re getting ready to start some games,” Crane said.
On the boys team, the biggest challenge has been keeping the team in perfect condition and staying motivated throughout practice and preparation.
“On the boys side we haven’t really had any obstacles yet. We’re just trying to keep them motivated and locked in as we’ve prepared to get to games. It’s probably been our biggest obstacle because the first little preseason time is probably our hardest time mentally because we’re doing a lot of preparation for the season,” Crane said. “So August and September are pretty hard because there’s no game, but once we get into October and November and games start, that really kind of pushes their motivation because they can see the goal. So that’s probably been the biggest obstacle with the boys is just kind of keeping them motivated, keeping them focused.”
During the off-season, team chemistry and team support has been a focus for both the boys and girls. It is a challenge for the teams to find time for bonding activities during the peak of the season, so it’s helpful to already have those connections pre established.
“I would say some improvements we’ve made in the pre-season is really working on team play and how we work together on the field as a team. When games roll around, team chemistry on the field is important so that is definitely one thing we’ve worked on,” girls senior captain Taylor Grace Hamilton said.
After an upsetting loss in the playoffs last year, the end goal for the team is to win through the playoffs and make it to the state championship.
“Obviously our biggest goal is to make it to state this year. It’s our first year as a 7A school and we want to win. Another goal we have is to get better each day, we have our off days but they make us work harder and motivate us to do better. Our team has a lot of potential and we have the chance to go far,” Hamilton said.
Team captains on both teams have been working together on encouraging their team to work hard and stay focused to be prepared for games.
“Well, as a captains, Will Mott and I have been trying to encourage everyone to work hard on and off the field, it doesn’t matter if you play JV or Varsity, if you start or you don’t start, we want everyone to give their best because practicing with high intensity and against people who work hard makes you work even harder,” junior captain Roy Gonzalez said. “Also, we try to be as supportive as possible when it comes to problems in the locker room and on the field. We don’t want people arguing and blaming each other because at the end of the day we are all on the same team.”
