As the Champion girls soccer team gets ready for the final three weeks of the regular season, their approach will be what it has been all year long – one match at a time.
Sure they want a deep playoff run, but Chargers coach Kara Walters said they’ll address goals like that when it’s time.
“We are focusing on district first, one game at a time. Of course there is always talk about getting to state, but we always focus on what’s in front of us at that moment,” she said. “The main goal is to come together as a team and all work to move in the same direction and we are making great strides toward that.”
Champion has made it three rounds in two of the last three seasons and they would have likely made it that far the other year but that was the COVID season. Walters said she hasn’t talked with her team about getting past the third round because again, it’s about the next match in front of them.
“We will take this season one game at time and address (the playoffs) when it comes, but I don’t think these girls necessarily need the extra motivation,” she said. “They are intrinsically motivated and mentally focused whenever they step on the field.”
A look at the district
The Chargers are 7-2 in district with seven 26-5A matches left. Their two losses have been to defending state champs Dripping Springs, which looks poised for another strong year, and to Alamo Heights. They’ll face Drip on Friday and host Heights on March 1. The Tigers are undefeated in district, while the Mules and Chargers both have two losses.
“Heights always brings their best game against us so even though they lost to Canyon, we are not going to take them lightly,” Walters said.
Besides Champion, Heights and Drip, NB Canyon, Veterans Memorial, Seguin, Kyle Lehman, Kerrville Tivy and Buda Johnson are in the district.
A look at the team
One thing that Walters has done for the last few seasons is to play in the National Elite Prep Showcase Tournament in the Dallas area to pit her team against some of the best around. The coach said it pays off.
“The strategy is to schedule a difficult preseason lineup so we could identify where we needed to focus our training,” she said. “It gave us some valuable PK experience and the pressure that can sometimes expose mental weakness. I think we found that these girls are pretty strong when it comes to facing adversity.
Included on the roster is Mya Serda, Vivian Garza, Lorenna Garza, Avery Case, Emma Mae Dixon, Skyleigh Arnold, Grace McClain, Emily Peters, Olivia Farias, Regan Alt, Mack Arendall, Gabby Dellocono, Addison Huber, Nevaeh Garris, Marisa Matos, Lola Vaughan, Kallyn Zaner, Hannah Arnall, Shelby Christian, Shelby Streicher and Audrey Riordan.
Walters says the strength of this year’s team is their experience.
“This year’s team has a lot of depth, as previous years. They are confident and in good shape,” she said. “We are very good at executing within our system at this point in the season, but we continue working to increase the pace of play.”
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