An end and a beginning

We closed out our season against two of the top four teams in our conference, and although the results were disappointing, we have set ourselves up to continue to make strides in the seasons to come. We have spent the last few days as a coaching staff talking to each player individually to get a feel for what they think we can do to continue moving forward. It’s good to hear that we are all convinced that we have not yet exhausted the potential of the players on this team, and there is a willingness across the board to invest personally for the future successes of the group as a whole.

We are coming up on the important months for any college soccer program…the offseason. It is truly the time of year that separates the mediocre players and teams from those teams that are still playing at this point in November. This gets more at the character of the women on any particular team than what can be orchestrated by coaches.

The off-season captains have been chosen by the team, and it will be up to them and the other “leaders” in the group to motivate, inspire and push each player to continue to improve. We can’t stay where we are right now. Where we are is sitting on the sidelines watching the other teams in our conference play for the WIAC championship. That’s not where we want to be. We want to be announced at the start of the big games, a force to contend with throughout the entire season and recognized as one of the top four teams in the WIAC conference. That doesn’t just happen by itself. It happens because everyone involved in the program sets sights on those goals and makes the necessary commitments in and out of season to attain them.

We are planning for the end-of-the-year banquet, but it is also a gathering to celebrate all that is yet to come. Our seniors will be beginning careers and life outside of soccer and college, and the remaining players will start to turn their attention to what can be, and what will be better. It is the end of one season, and the start of the next.