February, 2024
By Jesus Perez, Staff Reporter
The 2023-2024 junior varsity boys soccer team has started their pre-season. They have played four games so far, winning two and losing two. The JV team practices outside every school day, making sure that they are prepared for all the challenges coming their way. Every Wednesday, the JV challenges the varsity to a scrimmage to identify their mistakes and ways to improve. During the scrimmage, there are scenarios where coaches Eddie Lett and Jonathan Avila stop to run a corner kick or a free kick to see how JV would attack and defend in case of a counterattack. This helps JV prepare for all kinds of competition and make sure that they are ready for everything that can happen in a game.
The team’s first game was a struggle as it was a new team and the chemistry was not there. JV lost that game four to one, and it brought a lot of attention to the mistakes that they made constantly, leading up to the other team scoring. The next day Avila told the team he was not proud of how the JV played because he knew that JV was the better team but did not play as hard as they could. For the next few days, the team worked on conditioning and communication to improve their game.
In January, for the first time in Kipp Austin Collegiate history, JV had a chance to participate in a friendly tournament hosted by Hutto High School. Avila was not able to attend, so the varsity coach, Lett, coached the team for the tournament. JV played three games against other great teams, including Hutto, Manor, and Lockhart.
As the tournament day approached, JV did drills to help build up their chemistry and made sure they were hydrated for the game. On the day of the tournament, JV played at 8:45 in the morning, and the team was at the school by 6 o’clock in the morning. The team arrived at Hutto at 8:00, warmed up for 45 minutes, and was ready for the toughest competition of the tournament, which was Hutto, the tournament’s host. Unfortunately, JV lost the game four to one. The next game was against Lockhart, and JV managed to defeat them five to one. Their last game was against Manor, and the weather was about twenty-five degrees with fifteen mph wind. They started against the wind, and the other team scored two goals on them. JV managed to get one goal before the second half and scored three more, making them win the game, and the tournament was over.
On the following day, Lett praised JV for the team’s outstanding performance in the last three games, in which they scored 10 goals. JV’s chemistry with the team has been exceptional, and they are determined to give their best in the upcoming games to ensure they do not face another defeat.
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