The Timber Creek Boys Varsity Soccer Team officially kicked off their season from Jan. 3 to Jan. 5 in the Coppell Tournament. Held at Coppell High School, the team spent the first semester of the school year in preparation for the new district competition, aligned to face off schools like Byron Nelson and Southlake Carroll high schools later in the season.
“My expectations are high for this year’s team,” said team captain, Kayden Gomez. ”Every player has a crucial role to play, whether that be the goalie, center back or the striker; we all play as one.”
Hoping to make the 2018-2019 season the year that they finally make it into playoffs, the fresh set of starting players have focused their training around specific team dynamics and ball recovery. A forward player for the team, Gomez credits the team’s strength to the bond each athlete has built with one another both on the field and off. Strengthening their communication on the field and training, each player’s flexibility and confidence within each other’s strengths has set the team apart from previous seasons, leaning upon each player to win as a whole.
“Losing good players is never fun, but it doesn’t [impact] our passion and heart for the sport,” Gomez said. “Each and every player on the team has been working diligently to fill those roles and to find the best position that fits their play style.”
Falling short of their goal of reaching playoffs the previous season and losing several key graduated players, the young team is determined to learn from failure, not letting the loss affect their diligence or love for the game. Adding sophomore athletes including Xavier Moreno and Jacob Balkcom to the varsity team, the fresh set of starting players look to help rewrite the team’s history, shooting to make playoffs for the first time in the program’s history.
“This year the coaches have implemented a new workout program… that helps us mentally push through our exhaustion in the last minutes of the game,” commented Gomez. “Each one of us looks out for each other on and off the field and encourages one another to fight to the end of each game.”
The next varsity games will be held Friday, Jan. 18 at Coppell High School at 7:30 p.m.
Timber Creek Sports Network will be streaming the following girls and guys soccer games:
