IAC BOYS SOCCER: NUMBERS UP AS WAVERLY REBUILDS PROGRAM (18 PHOTOS) (2019-08-21)
By TIM BIRNEYValley Sports ReportWAVERLY - Second-year coach Eric Ryck is seeing progress already in his efforts to rebuild the Waverly boys soccer program.
Just a year removed from re-starting the program after a year without a team due to insufficient numbers, Ryck said the numbers are up for varsity, and modified.
"I'm super-excited for the season," said Ryck. "We have 17 on the roster, up from 13 last year. We have better numbers, and everybody is bigger and more mature.
"We only lost one senior, and everyone is back, plus we picked up five sophomores who are first-time soccer players," noted Ryck. "My players have been real good at recruiting for me.
"The modified program is up from 12 last year, to 16 or 17 this year," he added. "The soccer program is doing well here."
The expectations for the team is also much improved.
"We are light years ahead of where we were last year, light years," said Ryck. "Last year, we had a lot of inexperience. We were very, very young, and very, very small.
"The attitudes are the same, though. Last year, these kids worked their butts off, and that work ethic is still here," said Ryck. "They are excited about the season."
Ryck said he's teaching a bit more this preseason.
"The focus is on getting them technically ready.
"I really felt last year that a lot of what we were lacking was our technical ability, the maniacal attention to detail on the small things," he said. "It's about doing the small things right here (on the practice field), so we can do them in the game."
The Wolverines host Sayre in a scrimmage Tuesday, then scrimmages at BondFest on Aug. 28. They open the regular season at home against Whitney Point on Sept. 5.
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PHOTOS BY TIM BIRNEY.
