BEGINNING OF A NEW YEAR
Fall sports teams take field for first time
UPPER DUBLIN >> High School fall sports teams couldn’t have asked for a better start to their seasons.
Area squads took to the field for the first time Monday morning under clear blue skies and temperatures in the mid-70s.
For some teams, this pictureperfect day will be remembered as the beginning of a league, district or state championship run. For others it may be a rebuilding year. Or a season that ends with heartbreak. The first day of official practice means different things to different players. Seniors are beginning their final high school seasons while freshmen are looking to make a first impression with a new team and find their place.
“They all start on the same level,” Upper Dublin boys soccer coach Andy Meehan said of how he handles the different classes. “Obviously physically the seniors are bigger than the freshmen. We look at potential on the freshmen side but we also look at if you can play right now. Ultimately we don’t want to put you in a situa
tion where you’re going to fail or you won’t do as well. We’ll start separating by the end of (Monday) to see who will be on the freshmen team and then we go from there, then we start determining the movement between the JV and the varsity.”
It’s also a day where juniors and seniors take on leadership roles. Meehan broke the news to Upper Dublin seniors Nate Hillman and Chris Kenney that they will be captains this year.
“It feels really exciting,” Hillman said after smiling and fist-bumping Kenney upon hearing the news. “Glad to get back into it — preseason, ready to work.”
“It feels fantastic,” Kenney added. “I’m ready to get these kids moving.”
Teams can organize player-only workouts in the summer, but Monday marked the first official onthe-field practice for high school teams with coaches present.
“The seniors would do players-only (during the summer), which is encouraged,” Meehan said. “We didn’t do a summer league this year, but we did a spring tournament, which we won. Other than that it’s been all these guys taking a lot of ownership. As the head coach, it’s nice to see that.”
“It seems like there’s a lot more involvement than we had last year,” Kenney said of the players-only practices and lifting workouts. “We’re really excited about that.”
The first couple days are typically focused on testing everyone’s conditioning.
“For now we’re just making sure everyone is in good shape,” Hillman said. “Making sure we’re in decent condition. I think as preseason continues we’re going to try and build chemistry and get to know the people we’re playing with. Also just clean up any rust that may have accumulated during the summer.”
“We want to show the incoming freshmen what high school soccer is all about and how it’s different than middle school,” Kenney said. “Get them ready for the season.”
Area teams will have about three weeks worth of practices and scrimmages to get in shape and get ready before kicking off the regular season Friday Aug. 30.