Great Season for NMS Boys Soccer
The following is written by Coach Paul Donovan, who did a sensational job again writing this as well as coaching our NMS Boys Soccer team this year. I love what he says about heart, determination, and doing their best, and what he expresses about this phenomenal group of boys. I thank him, the team, the parents, Mr. Ryan Sylvia our AD, and everyone who worked so hard this year to make the soccer team a success. Thank you.
Here is Coach Donovan:
When looking back on a season there is always a tendency to use wins and losses as a measuring stick to the success or failure of a team. In reality, those statistics can be deceiving. Sometimes, wins and losses have absolutely nothing to do with obtaining goals and expectations set before the season even starts. Bad teams can win games, and great teams can lose. Some teams’ success must be determined by their will power, work ethic, and love for the game itself.
This fall’s NMS Boys soccer season is the perfect example of why you cannot gauge a success by the scoreboard.
When tryouts started at the end of August, I knew that we were going to need to make an exceptional amount of progress in a short amount of time to be a competitive team. What we lacked was not toughness, nor was it ability or athletic prowess. The Tigers lacked size and age. Out of 18 players, 9 were in the 6th grade and would be playing against teams comprised of almost entirely 8th grade athletes.
So, we worked hard, and we developed two mottos that we would talk about every single practice and game for the entirety of the season.
The first lesson: Improve Every Day. Just going out practicing and trying our best would not be good enough. Every day was a challenge to take one part of the game, dissect it, practice that skill, and insert it into our game plan. Sure enough, the boys made significant progress every single day. Eventually they were playing soccer on a level they had previously thought was unobtainable.
Second: Size means Absolutely Nothing. We’ve all heard the saying “It’s not the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog.” This team not only had to learn what that meant on a daily basis, they had to live it every time a Ref blew his whistle to start a game. For the first few games the boys had a tough time agreeing with me about this. Over time, they began to understand why. Soccer is a team sport. When a team plays as a unit it becomes larger and stronger than any individual can ever be. Once they realized this lesson the team began to not only compete with, but in a lot of cases dominated larger, faster, and stronger opponents.
I will forever be grateful to this team for teaching me a lot of very important lessons. Most importantly the power of attitude. Regardless of the score at the end of the game I was not the only one discussing the things we did well. They ALWAYS had each other's back, and they always enjoyed being on the field with one another. Thanks to great leadership from Captains: Gavin Estabrook, Ethan Cowie, Shea Hilton, Ryley Martin, and James Swarce, the NMS Tigers had an extremely successful soccer season. The Tigers will greatly miss their 8th grade leaders. However, I know they will look to improve on the legacy that has been built so far.
Great Season Guys!
-Coach Donovan
