However, the Bruins not only try to win, but also take these difficult games as a chance to polish their skills.
“We’ve been playing a lot of older teams so it’s been a challenge for us, but it’s allowed us to become a better team,” C-team soccer coach Ron Schmidt said. “It’s a huge challenge, and every bit of success we achieve is something to be proud of.”
Despite their losing record, the players say they have improved their overall performance since the beginning of the year by playing advanced opponents.
“We’ve been doing really good because we have played a lot of varsity teams and JV teams, so that builds up our experience and how we play,” freshman Harsh Singh said. “Our record shows we haven’t played that well, but we’ve played in a varsity tournament and a JV tournament. We did really well versus varsity teams, so it shows that we have done really well.”
The young Bruin squad has even won a few games against JV teams, such as its 7-1 victory over the Fatima High School JV team.
Schmidt said the struggle to put points on the board weighs on the team, but he believes the young Bruin soccer players’ experiences have helped shape their outlook and facilitated growth as a group. Off the field, the players bond to keep a positive attitude toward each other despite the difficult competition schedule.
“There’s a time when we ran around the lake and people tried throwing each other into the lake around Bethel,” freshman Ryan Plastridge said. “It was the freshmen throwing each other in.”
The Bruins’ camaraderie was more necessary than ever when they faced the Mexico High School varsity team.
The Bulldog varsity team had more experience and had more upper classmen than the C-team. Not even the Bruins’ team spirit, developed off the field, was enough to overcome the challenge of a more advanced team.
Even though they lost to the Mexico High School varsity team 0-1 in overtime, the C-team looks at their performance with optimism. The game improved their skills and will assist them in the coming years as they prepare to play for RBHS JV and varsity programs.
The players on the varsity teams “were usually faster, bigger and stronger, but it was still kind of fun because it gave us a challenge,” Plastridge said. “I think our team plays better when we have a challleng.”
With the 2011 season coming to a close, the team looks forward to the 2012 season while remembering the efforts put forth this year.
“I think they’d like to have a better winning percentage,” Schimdt said “It’s a huge challenge and that every bit of success we achieve is something to be proud of, [but] I think they’re having a fun season overall.”
By Brett Stover
