Reflection and preparation: From soccer onto tennis at Liberty North
LIBERTY, Mo. — Every winter this is our process; Reflecting on a boys’ soccer season that’s come to an end while preparing for a boys’ tennis season yet to begin. It’s a great time of the year to think deeply about both programs; where we are, where we’ve been, where we want to go and the why behind all of it. More than anything, high school sports give our kids the opportunity to practice two really important processes:
1) The opportunity to explore their own potential in an activity they’re intrinsically motivated to invest in (as a person, athlete, and/or teammate)
2) The opportunity to build valuable perspectives needed for the future (competitive focus, managing adversity, evaluating what matters most, how to better work with others and/or value people).
Our last few seasons have given us (coaches and players) some great opportunities to do both, especially with the challenges brought on by Covid. Our varsity boys’ soccer season was really positive while also being full of challenging situations. We had some really good wins/games, a great trip to Springfield and some great season long performances from some of our youngest players (Jack Watson, Brody Phipps, Kade O’Hara, Kaiden Murry).
We also had to work through some really significant injuries to some of our most talented players (Carson Schmitt, Cade Maloney, Jack Nedeau, Caden Tyler), a season-long struggle to score goals/finish opportunities and having 13 of our 19 games decided in overtime or by one goal. As sophomore Jack Watson quoted at our banquet, “Sometimes you have to lose the battle to win the war.” We’ve got 15 great kids coming back next fall and we’re all excited to continue the journey together.
As we look ahead and prepare for the upcoming boys tennis season, we’ll work to continue building on our two previous seasons in which the varsity squad has gone 24-4 while also seeing the doubles team of Jack Brown/Graham Carter finish 3rd at the state tournament last May. So much of our work with players centers around the concepts of self-awareness, self-improvement, goal setting and collaborative discussion.
We operate under the assumption that learning more about yourself can help you improve performance, better understand your teammates, and stretch your long-term potential as a player and a person. With at least four varsity spots available, the team will be relying on returning seniors Graham Carter and Quinton Cacchia for leadership and strong play. We’re excited for the spring and look forward to getting back on the courts. As always, we appreciate the support of everyone in our community and hope everyone has a healthy spring.
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