Dragons prep for baptism by fire!

(Published in the Evening News & Tribune, August 21, 2007)

Silver Creek is hoping to ignite the game of soccer in the school after adding the sport to its athletic program.Last fall, the Henryville Hornets dipped their wings in soccer waters for the first time and now the Dragons are following suit.And this Saturday, the school is preparing for a baptism of fire when the boys’ and girls’ teams travel to take on the might of the Providence junior varsity squads beginning at 10 a.m. When Silver Creek athletic director Larry Richmer was looking to start a new program, the hope was just to have enough for a boys’ outfit and if there were any girls who wanted to join in, then a co-ed team would be a possibility.However, such was the interest at Silver Creek that it was decided to go with two teams.Liverpool has coach Benitez; Silver Creek has coach Benitos. Israel Benitos, that is, while the girls are lucky to be benefitting from the experience of former Jeff High girls’ assistant coach Andrew Smith."We had a lot of tough tasks that we needed to overcome to get this going," said Benitos. "Tasks such as will we have enough players interested to make up a team? How much are we willing to spend on the program? Where are we going to play our home games?"The program did not start as smoothly as planned, admitted Benitos, with practices not beginning until July 31."The weather did not cooperate with us, and we did not know where a good practice location would be," he said. "We had morning and afternoon sessions. Then we decided to match ourselves with an adult soccer team that I am a part of. We learned a lot from them. All in all, the kids are motivated and ready to have a great season."Interest in the girls’ program, meanwhile, has been fantastic. Smith said he decided to have sign-up sheets and announcements to see what kind of interest there would be for a girls’ team. "The numbers on the sign-up sheets were phenomenal," he said. "There were over 60 girls who had expressed some interest, so the decision was made to have a boys’ and a girls’ team." The teams started to informally get together off and on in the latter part of the spring, just to get some more interest generated and learn some of the basic fundamentals of the game. "Many of the girls have worked very hard over the summer and spring learning the game, developing skills and getting themselves into shape," said Smith. "We took the month of July off and started to hold actual practices almost two weeks ago, and the girls all seem very excited about getting the chance to play soccer.
Three or four have playing experience with (Southern Indiana United soccer club), the Net-Surfers and Javanon. There are a few others who say they played soccer for (Clark County Soccer Association) when they were in the fourth and fifth grade. But for the most part, many of them are completely new to the game."There are currently 17 girls on the roster, seven of them seniors, and there is little doubt in Smith’s mind that the team will get stronger in the future."I am hoping, and I believe, that the biggest issue right now is that many of the 60-plus girls who expressed some interest were just unsure about making a commitment to a team that they weren’t convinced was actually going to happen," he said. "I have faith that our numbers will increase next season when the program is a bit more established."At the moment, their biggest problem is finding teams to play. Providence aside — the Dragons are scheduled to play boys’ and girls’ games with North Harrison, Corydon Central and Salem, which also has a new program this season. Single girls’ games are scheduled against Floyd Central, Jeffersonville and Madison. "We are only playing junior-varsity teams where we can, and avoiding getting into a varsity schedule until we are a little more experienced and ready to compete in sectionals and have a full schedule of 15 games," said Smith.

Seymour signals its intent

One game standing out among others during the first week of the high school soccer season was the repeat of last year’s boys’ regional final matchup of Providence and Seymour.Providence, as we know, came out on top 1-0 that day thanks to a Keenan Sparks strike. However, Saturday saw a much more open encounter, with Seymour showing its intent to go further in the competition this fall with a 5-2 victory over the Pioneers.Providence brought a 2-1 lead into the second half thanks to goals from Patrick Leistner and Andrew McCartin, but the Owls wasted no time canceling it out. Seymour struck with an equalizer within a minute of the restart and then took the lead for the first time nine minutes later and wrapped up the game with a free kick after 30 minutes and a long-range effort seconds later.Providence is now 1-2-0, having lost 2-0 to North Oldham in its season opener before winning 5-0 against Corydon. Its next varsity game is at Jennings County on Aug. 28.Meanwhile, New Albany got the season off to a good start with a Nathan Driggers finish against Forest Park at Prosser, while Floyd Central tied 1-1 with the Rangers on Friday and will take on Oldham County on the road tonight.Jeffersonville traveled to Evansville last weekend for the River City Tourney. The Red Devils lost 3-0 to Evansville Central; tied 2-2 with Evansville Reitz; and went down in its third game 3-1 to Evansville North. The Red Devils will next play at Seymour on Aug. 28.Meanwhile, Providence girls defeated Seymour 4-3 Saturday to move its record to 2-0-0 following a victory earlier in the week against Corydon. This week the Pioneers play two home matches, starting tonight with Forest Park (varsity only, 6 p.m.) before taking on Jeffersonville on Thursday (5:30 p.m. JV and 7 p.m. varsity) — a game which should attract a spirited crowd.
New Albany girls lost 2-0 to Forest Park and will play at North Harrison tonight, while Floyd Central opens its campaign at Mercy Academy on Thursday.

Sam’s the man for Net-Surfers

Sam’s the man for Net-Surfers
Sam Fell has just been elected president of the Southern Indiana all-girls’ club, the Net-Surfers.
Fell, who begins his two-year term immediately, stated that he plans to push hard and make lots of changes to continue improving the club competitively.
He replaces Tony Holland, whose two-year term has now been completed.
“With his business background, passion and love for the game, we believe Sam will do a tremendous job,” said Holland.
Net-Surfers’ director of coaching Dave Smith said all volunteer organizations need new blood with time and energy to keep their momentum.
“Sam’s a good guy for the job,” he said. “It’s a two-year position, so I’m looking forward to see how much more progress we make by this time in 2009.”
Contact Aidan Kelly at aidokaydo@gmail.com.