Fall sports have started and the Fair Grove Girls Soccer Team has started working to become champions.  The girls practice every day after school from 3:30 to 5:30. Head coach of the High School Soccer team, Joseph Florez, is leading the charge to victory.  Florez commented, “I expect to have a winning season, have a lot of fun, get better as a team, and compete for a district championship. There are a lot of good teams in our district, so we will have to outwork them if we are going to be successful this year.”  

Coach Florez also has help from his assistant coach, Patricia Schnakenberg.  Working together, they help lead the students to become better athletes and enhance their skills as soccer players.  Schnakenberg stated, “We have a lot of girls interested in playing soccer this year and there are some who are pretty athletic. Hopefully with practice, we can shape these girls into pretty decent soccer players. We have a very strong junior group, so their leadership and skills should drive the team into a successful season.”  Schnakenberg and Florez also agreed that some of their biggest competition would be Greenwood, New Covenant, Webb City, and Monett. They also agreed that some their key players are Macey Stallings, Brystol Bates, and Maddie Psyhos. Bates said, “Some obstacles that might stand in my way this season are that outside back (defense) is a newer position for me. It will also be the first year that I am being looked at as an influential varsity player, and I’m just working on stepping up and making sure I’m fully playing to the best of my ability.  My favorite thing about soccer is getting to play with my friends in a sport that I love. I really enjoy how much the girls try to help each other and they are always supportive.”

The focus this year for the team is to train longer, faster, and harder.  They plan to do this by shaping their new players into soccer stars and improving the old players to become even better.  Schnakenberg added, “Every year you see what works for that group, and what doesn’t work. Since we have such a large junior group, we will really rely on their leadership, both skill and attitude wise. We have a lot of new players this year, so really focusing on the basics each practice will make each player (not just the new ones) better.”   The girls practice hard and try their best to improve as soccer players. The season has just started for the soccer team.