First-year coach Josh Albregts believes the “sky is the limit” for the senior-laden Wildcat soccer team.
Albregts was hired within the last month to coach the Wildcat soccer team. Along with eliminating players’ bad habits from previous seasons, Albregts’ main focus early on in practice was building a foundation of family.
“We are not seen as seniors, freshmen, sophomores, juniors,” Albregts said. “It’s all one family. We’re here to set a goal. We’re here to achieve that goal. And if we don’t achieve that goal, then reevaluate and see where we need to go.”
Over the first few weeks, Albregts phased in conditioning to prepare the players for their first game of the regular season. They have utilized timed runs and other forms of cardio on the field.
“One of my big things is if we’re going to lose a game, we’re going to lose it because they have more talent than us,” Albregts said. “We’re not going to lose because we’re not conditioned and we can’t run the field.”
Albregts touted the experience the Wildcats bring back to the pitch this season. They return eight seniors. Albregts is counting on his two senior captains and other experienced soccer players to communicate to the team during games and provide leadership throughout the season.
“With having such a huge field, and there’s constant playing and everything like that when it comes to soccer, you have to be able to communicate,” Albregts said. “We do have two senior captains that are going to be my communication people instead of hollering on the field at the entire team. It’s going to be talking to them, giving them direction and then them implementing it from there.”
Albregts wants the Wildcats’ focus to be on the process of improving and also on achieving positive results. The team has a goal in mind regarding overall success of the season. However, Albregts wants the Wildcats to focus on playing hard at practice and doing what needs to be done at practice. When games start, he wants the players to focus on what they need to do for that game.
“I personally believe that the sky is the limit with this team.” Albregts said. “If they get together, they can be unstoppable. If they play as individuals, then we’re going to have a rough year this year. But if they can be one cohesive team going at it together, it’s going to be an interesting year.”
Albregts is hoping to see support from the school and from the community. He added the Wildcats will be participating in community projects.
“I reached out to the City of Wright City to see if there’s a park or something that needs to be cleaned up or if there’s a road that needs to be cleaned up,” Albregts said. “We’re going to be doing community projects and everything. People are going to know who we are.”
The Wildcats will open their season Tuesday with a home game against Winfield High School. The game is slated to begin at 4:30 p.m.