This 2024-25 soccer season is the first season for Mr. Cordek, the new girls’ soccer coach. Mr. Cordek has coached soccer before and even played/won championships himself. In an interview with him, he stated that the “team’s biggest achievement of the season is our win against Dupont 2/0”. He noted that having a 2/0 win only halfway through the season was a big achievement for them. He also said that “one thing the team does very well is their efforts, they put in very good effort on the field and in their practices.” Mr. Cordek also pointed out that the team could work on improving and developing their technical skills, passing and handling the ball, and being able to efficiently and accurately move it down the field.
The team has a busy schedule with a typical week consisting of practices on Monday and Wednesday, and games on Tuesday, and Thursday. The team does not practice on Fridays. Mr. Cordek explained that their practices usually “ are from 3:45-5:15, and start with warm-ups, then basic skill learning, meaning learning a new skill and how to apply it to a game scenario and practicing that skill.”
The Girls have two jerseys, one white and one blue, both with gold lettering. Coach said that there have been some scenarios of the team arriving at a game and the opposing team also being in their white jerseys. This annoyance has caused some mid-field changes and problem-solving between referees and coaches. This is a common problem in sports, especially soccer, but the coach has stated that his best method when faced with his problem is to try and push the players to always have both of their jerseys on hand at every game in case unexpected issues arise.
The coach was asked in his interview what qualities he valued most in his players and team as a whole, and he said “I value players who make the effort and those who make good choices”. We also asked him how he goes about discipline with his team, he said, “as far as discipline goes, every situation is different and not the same, so the choices I make are tailored to help the child make a better choice next time.” He also made it very clear that “I am very frank about misbehavior and wasting time, you only cheating yourself and yourself and your teammate’s opportunities to be better individually and as a team.” He also mentioned that “No single mistake is ever the whole team’s downfall. It may appear that way, but there were lots of factors that preceded those apparent mistakes that could have and should have been avoided, like not taking practice seriously.”
Overall, this year, the girls’ soccer team is having a successful season in games, in teamwork and working well together, and individually with their own skills and growing their technique. The coach has high hopes for this season and the team, the girls themselves enjoy the friendship and learning they gain from practices and games, not to mention the bonding that happens as a team.