More EDSS athletes are shaking off the winterโs inactivity after soccer took off for both girls and boys this week. As coaches work toward a good start to the Waterloo County Secondary School Athletics Association games, they will be working on different aspects of the game respectively.
A relatively young team on the girlsโ side will have coaches focusing on skill-building and teamwork, while a strong showing of senior players for the boys has coaches setting their sights higher at WCSSAA.
โWe have a fairly young team so I think it will certainly be a building season,โ said Lisa Bauman one of the coaches of the girlsโ team.
โThere are a few girls returning from previous years but we have a lot of new Grade 9s that are joining this year.โ
![Lucas Nosal and Devin Decorte are part of the EDSS soccer teamโs core group of players this year. The team had its first WCSSAA game this week against Galt Collegiate Institute.[elena maystruk / the observer]](http://observerxtra.com/2/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/sports2.jpg)
EDSS lost 1-0 when Eastwood managed to score late in the game.
Neither team had opportunity to participate in exhibition games prior to WCSSAA due to scheduling conflicts, Bauman said. But in going straight to the regular season this year, coaches are seeing good numbers, with about 18 players on the girlsโ team and the same expected on the boysโ roster. Encouraged by last yearโs results, boysโ coaches are hoping for a strong showing after the last cuts on April 16.
Last yearโs team went undefeated in the regular season, said boysโ head coach Gord Maier, but the EDSS boys finally fell in the playoffs. This year the team is going into the competition with a solid core of senior players, he added.
โThis is my first year coaching the school team, [though] Iโve coached locally before. Last year we had a very strong season but until we start playing weโre not exactly sure what we are going to be facing out there. Iโm hoping for a winning season, a positive time with the kids.โ
An EDSS boysโ team was added to the original schedules posted by WCSSAA after Maier and a parent volunteer agreed to take over coaching duties this week following a strong student demand for the sport.
โIt was a very late start. We had a parent volunteer step up and then I got asked to help out and I kind of volunteered at the last minute. We had the kids asking and I wanted to make it happen for them,โ he said.
The first game for the boys took place at RIM Park against Galt Collegiate Institute on April 18, with a first home game scheduled for May 2. The girls host Preston High School on April 24 at Woodside Bible Fellowship.
