NOT SO DIFFERENT
Avondale, North Farmington share OAA Blue title after strikingly similar bounce-back seasons
The Avondale Yellow Jackets and North Farmington Raiders split the OAA Blue title this year. And the two teams share more than a few similarities.
Both have struggled in recent years, and both were coming off two-win seasons a year ago. Both of them also persevered through this year and finished with identical 8-0-2 marks in the division, playing two draws against each other while tearing through the rest of the division.
Both programs now hope to use the division title as a foundation stone while they rebuild the soccer program.
“It was definitely a nice reward at the end of the year, especially coming from last year we struggled a lot. So this was a nice year to bounce back a little bit,” Avondale head coach Justin Clendennin said. “Last year was a real down year for us. We used that year still to build, and I think that built into this year. I think we worked on a lot of fundamentals as a team and it really carried over into this one.”
North Farmington head coach Erika Rusk expressed similar sentiments — and aspirations. “We’re still building back. We had a few years where we lost and graduated a lot of girls that went on to play collegiate soccer, just really outstanding players. And then a school our size, we’re not a 2,000-plus person school,” Rusk said. “We graduated some big classes. If we don’t have them coming immediately in, we get a bit thin. … We did really well in the Blue this year, but I think our goal ultimately, is to become competitive and to keep moving up one division at a time and be competitive with those teams too. They did what they were supposed to do this year, and hopefully they can build on that going forward.”
For Avondale, it was a group of six seniors who persevered after graduating a large number of players after 2019, then even more after the 2020 season was cancelled, to help the program regain some footing after a disappointing 2021 season. In effect, the Yellowjackets were practically rebuilding the program from scratch starting last year.
“We have great captains this year, great seniors overall. They were with me from the first years when we were pretty successful, and they were able to bring back a lot of the things we did those first two years, before COVID, to this year,” Clendennin said.
“It feels great. Last year was not our year, but I feel like we definitely redeemed ourselves this year,” Avondale senior co-captain Hannah Schmidt said. “It feels really good. This is a really happy thing. This is our last year playing soccer. None of us are playing college and having such a good season, you’re always going to remember that.”
This year’s Avondale squad, the team formed a strong bond, something that last year’s group was not able to do with all of the COVID protocols in place. And it was that bond which carried the team through.
“I think we bonded a lot more as a team. Last year, we felt really separated, especially because of COVID it was really hard to be together and be one, but this year we’re getting together more, getting closer. We know each other more, and that definitely helped,” Yellow Jackets senior co-captain Kelsey Wallace said.
For North Farmington, the team has only three seniors and will be looking to continue its rebuild with a youth movement.
“It was interesting for us to see how this
“It was definitely a nice reward at the end of the year, especially coming from last year we struggled a lot.” — Justin Clendennin, Avondale coach
year was going to be because we lost 13 seniors last year, but the way that we’ve all come together to be co-champions of our conference was great for us,” Raiders co-captain Caitlyn McLane said.
“It was a lot of building onto a new team and making new freshmen coming up and teaching them how it should be and all the ways that we lost with the seniors that left. And it’s our leaving our legacy as seniors,” Raiders senior goalie Maya Weisberger said.
But the Raiders will be able to lean on former players for leadership, at least off the field as the program has a family atmosphere that carries through even after players graduate.
“Everyone plays sports and tries to get involved at North Farmington, but when you actually become a part of the team it sticks with you. A lot of people come and visit, and then I think just leaving your legacy and having people remember you, and knowing that you were a part of building up the team four previous years also encourages us to keep moving (forward),” Raiders senior co-captain Giselle Kassab said.
The immediate future for both teams will be participating in the state playoffs. North Farmington opens the Division 1 tournament with a home game on Wednesday against Farmington Hills Mercy.
Avondale will host Holly to start the Division 2 playoffs, also on Wednesday.