“We have every reason to win the state title this year,” noted Aaron Dobson, head coach of the Salida boys soccer team. The boys soccer team went all the way to the state finals last year, but came up short of the state title by only one goal with a loss to Forge Christian. Last season was the first time the team had been to the finals in over 10 years. Dobson had predictions about how this season was going to play out and many other exciting details about the team.
According to Dobson, “We needed to get a little bit more physical and a little bit more technical, because Forge Christian was better than us in those two ways.” Dobson also thinks it is necessary for the team to have a couple different “schemes” to use against opponents. “Instead of just having one shape and formation, having a couple of different things to throw teams off at different times is really important,” Dobson stated. Dobson also said that the team needs to improve on goal scoring in the harder and more important games.
Dobson believes that the Salida boys soccer team has a really strong bond and camaraderie among all members of the team. This bond will serve the team well as the season continues. Growing up in this small valley, most of these boys have been playing soccer with each other for more than 10 years. “There’s a resiliency of each player being willing to fight for their teammate because they have been together forever,” said Dobson. Bigger schools and schools in larger towns may not have these close bonds.
The soccer team this year has a record number of kids on the roster. With 44 kids on the team, there are both difficulties and advantages. Dobson has the challenge of balancing coaching both the varsity team and the junior varsity team. The varsity team has the goal of going to the state finals this year. The coaches have a hard task because they need to find the right balance between coaching the varsity team to the state finals, and providing the rest of the kids with the coaching they need to improve.
As of publish date, the Spartans have an 11-1 record. The Spartans lost their only game so far to Crested Butte with a score of 5-2. Dobson remarked on how important this loss was and what the team is going to do to bounce back quickly. He responded with, “I don’t really believe that winning every game is important, I believe it is important to win the last game.” Dobson continues, “I think the Crested Butte game was really tough because we got beat up so bad. We haven’t let in 5 goals in a couple of years now.” In the prior season, the team only let in only eight goals all season. Dobson believes the loss was a wakeup call for the players and will inspire them to keep working hard.
The boys plan to be in the state finals again this year, but this time they hope to take the title home.
