With all the new coaches and players on our teams this year, it’s easy for us Milligan sports fans to ask ourselves, “What will these new people add to the team?”, “What will their seasons be like?” and maybe, “What can we expect from the team as a whole?”.
But have we ever stopped to think about how WE as a school can support them better? Or how what we do can indirectly affect how they perform?
The seniors on the men’s soccer team have seen it all in their four years at Milligan. They have experienced the team highs, when their team was in a good spot collectively and was working great together, and they’ve seen the team lows, where the team seemed as if it just couldn’t get out of their slump. But this season is different.
With the introduction of Coach Lilly to their coaching staff at the end of last season, the entire team noticed a shift in attitude. It seemed as if the team was finally ready to dedicate all of their time and energy into a new process that they had faith in.
Unfortunately, with Coach Lilly having to remain in Scotland for this season, the team was faced with a turn of events. However, their interim head coach, Kyle Findlay, was immediately ready to take over the program and keep the team morale at an all-time high.
Coach Findlay told the Stampede in a recent interview that in regard to their training “nothing has changed between now and when Lilly was here,” which attests to the positive team-spirit that continues to come from the soccer team.
When asked what WE as a school can do for the men’s soccer team, senior and mid-fielder Bradley Hammond said, “We need two things from the fans: we need enthusiasm and we need patience.”
“You guys have all been great at bringing enthusiasm to our games. Every game so far has felt like we have two extra guys on the field because of how present our fans are, and we can’t thank you guys enough for that. But the second thing that is equally important that we need from you all, is patience. We as a team have made a lot of changes very quickly, and we are facing a lot of difficult tests. We are looking to establish this program as successful in the long term, and that takes time. So, if you guys are patient with us and keep that enthusiasm up, then I think we can truly do something special.”
So today I’m asking you, reader, what can our teams expect from YOU this season?
Picture by Sara Farmer