New Whitehall coach Dillon McCarthy has seen early success in his biggest goal after taking over the program, as several new players came out for the team in tryouts. He said over 30 players are now on the team, bolstering optimism of a full varsity and JV roster.
"We are working on developing a wide range of players with experience and abilities, so at times it feels back to basics, but simple organization goes a long way," McCarthy said. "Emphasis on possession and playing together in a system will be key to help this team find success."
A senior core of four players is set to lead the Vikings - Evan Jud, Ian Hinze, Javi LeBlanc and Keegan Frees. All bring significant experience, and their hard work has set the tone for the team. McCarthy has put the team through its paces early and proudly reported that 16 Vikings were able to run sub-6:30 miles during early conditioning.
Supplementing those four seniors is a strong group of underclassmen that's impressed the coaching staff with its offseason work, with a handful of them set to make the varsity lineup. Tommy Leeke, who played a lot of minutes last year as a freshman, will do so again as a sophomore, and fellow sophs Ryan Bowen and Isaac O'Boyle have also been standouts.
With so much youth and a new coaching staff, the emphasis is more on in-season growth than securing any particular number of wins. The Vikings have scheduled aggressively this season right from the start, opening against the much bigger Mona Shores program. They'll also play small-school powerhouse Western Michigan Christian.
"I'd be lying if I said I could care less about winning, but I really try to not dwell on a season's record," McCarthy said, noting that in his time coaching O-K Red Conference school Jenison, it's an easy lesson to learn. "In all honesty, I think coaches have an obligation to challenge their teams with tough competition. There is an obvious benefit of seeing teams you may see in a postseason as well, and remember, this isn't football. We all make the playoffs. The goal is to always show growth, challenge (ourselves) and hope to play our best soccer in October."
