Irwin, Lady Rams building family on soccer field

Lakeside has experienced many changes since falling to Sylvan Hills in the first round of the Class 5A state soccer tournament last May.

In addition to losing 11 seniors to graduation, head coach Karrie Irwin has made the team work to learn more than just their primary positions.

Prior to the season, Irwin held several intrasquad scrimmages between the 11 incoming freshmen and the rest of the team.

“When we first started play, I was just kind of picking and playing to see what they could do,” Irwin said. “I put them up against my returning girls in several scrimmages, and they brought it. They made my veterans bring it.”

While the freshmen group was able to hold its own against the rest of the team, there were still mistakes made, and Irwin made the players move around to learn new positions.

“They don’t have as much maturity (as some of the older girls),” she said. “They’re young, and they’ve got so much more to learn with the motions and how to play and how to read each other and play in positions they’re not comfortable with.

“I poked and pried and tried to put them everywhere that was uncomfortable for them, and they brought the competition. My girls all stepped up as well, and I thought, ‘This is what we needed.’ Then I started mixing groups up.”

Initially, there was some resistance from the players moving to new positions.

“I told them, ‘I don’t care what position you play. Everybody needs to be able to play another position and see where you’re best,’” she said. “I think moving people around and trying to mix them up (helps them see) the chemistry. Them seeing that it’s not all just, ‘I’m a forward,’ ‘I’m midfield,’ and just keeping them in the same old spot.”

Ashley Gayle was one player that Irwin moved to a new position. Joining the team as a defender, Irwin decided to move her to the wing.

“She wasn’t doing anything for us back there that we already didn’t have,” Irwin said. “We stuck her up on midfield, and she was like, ‘I’ve never played up here.’ She’s a wing. She does a great job. She controls the outside, runs down the line. She’s watched other players. She’s watched what that position is doing.

“I told them, ‘This is what we need to be doing; this is your job.’ She picked it up, and she enjoyed it. She’s doing a lot for us there.”

There have also been some conflicts that Irwin has had to work to improve.

“There’s been a lot of growing together, a lot of understanding,” she said. “It’s not just me. It’s not just one part of the team. It’s not just this group of girls. It’s everybody on the field and on the bench. They all play a big part on how much we grow.”

A significant issue was keeping the girls from yelling at each other when mistakes are made.

“That was the biggest thing,” Irwin said. “I talked to them, ‘Do you think they need you to tell that they messed up?’ And they all looked down. ‘If you mess up on the field, don’t you already know you’ve messed up?’

“Just some of these things, saying it and letting them know that we all have each other’s back, it opened up a lot more avenues for them to communicate. Now I’ve got Jessica Bishop saying, ‘I really should have called you off on that ball. That error that was made was really my fault.’ For a senior to say that to a freshman, that means the world. That brings the whole group together.”

Irwin also warned her players of those players who may perform well on the field but tear down her teammates on the sidelines and in the locker room.

“These girls, I told them since I started, you can have someone on the team that tears the team apart with their behavior, their attitude,” she said. “I’ve been trying to tell them that over and over again. Last year, we had some rough spots, and we never really connected. The girls

coming back, though, it was nice to see they still understood and remembered what I was talking about.

“I don’t want somebody that’s going to tear our team apart. They could be the best player in the world, but if they tear our team apart, they’re just going to bring our team down. No one person is going to win everything, even if they’re the best player.”

The addition of Lewis Jolly to the coaching staff also brought a new aspect to the team’s chemistry.

“He’s got a lot of experience with other teams and coaching and mentoring other coaches,” Irwin said. “He brings a lot to our team as well. I’ll call him up and ask him, ‘What do you think about this?’ and ‘Have you ever had to deal with this?’ … We’ll have a lot of conversations in the coaches’ room, and it helps me, and it helps him, and it helps them see the big picture. He’s been an integral part of this, too.”

Irwin impressed upon the team the idea of family. She said she wants the team to be a family, and she is starting to see some of those dynamics play out.

“We’ve got players that don’t see a lot of playing time, but they’ve got the biggest hearts,” she said. “They take care of each other. We’ve got players that play a lot, and I’ve found that the more that they go through and the more that we understand how family dynamics work, the more they are seeing it.”

The coaching staff also worked to get to know the players on a personal level.

“Most of the girls are really vocal about a lot of stuff and outgoing, and we know some of the quiet ones, too,” Irwin explained. “They do their things. Jaclyn (Jasnocha) makes sure that everything is picked up and knows who has what. Cailee (Stone) makes sure that if we need a ball or any kind of equipment, she takes care of it. There are people that do things, even if they are quiet.

“One day in the classroom, Jolly said, ‘Come here, Allison Smith. I know all of these girls, but I don’t know Allison Smith. Sit down, and let’s get to know you.’ Making each person on the team feel important. He showed me a lot about that.”

The Lady Rams are set to face White Hall today at 2 p.m. in the first round of the 5A-South district tournament at White Hall.