The high school soccer season is approaching quickly and while other teams prepare for the upcoming season, the PVHS girls team seems to be moving in the opposite direction. So far this off season, nine girls who were on the team in the spring have decided not to return this coming season, with seven of them being upperclassmen.
Such a trend is concerning for any team. While natural to weed out a few unprepared freshmen and sophomores, losing players who have been in the program for years is a more noteworthy issue. With the season only a week away, the team wonders if they can afford to lose any more players.
Kennedy Tagtmeier is one of the numerous seniors who has quit in the preseason. “It’s a bit worrying how many people have already quit, I mean the season hasn’t even started yet,” Tagtmeier explained. “The last three years, without fail, a handful of girls have quit within the first few weeks of spring season. I’m worried that the same thing will happen this year and there will be too many losses to recover from.”
With no promise of retaining the players they have, the coaches need to understand why girls are quitting in the first place if they want to prevent more from leaving. Sophomore Adalyn Belman knew she wanted to be done after her freshman season. “I quit soccer because of the toxicity of the team,” Belman said. “Throughout the season the coaches’ favoritism and neglect for other players really started to shine through and by the end of it, I’d had enough.”
This is unfortunately the rationale for many of the girls leaving. Many decided the toxic environment was not worth it anymore. A handful of former soccer players are now running track in the spring instead.
Brynn Edgin runs cross country in the fall and used to play soccer in the spring, but for her junior year, she decided to switch from soccer to track. “I mainly wanted to focus on my running career but I also just felt like it was the right thing to do,” Edgin explained. “I didn’t have the best time last soccer season and I really lost the love for the sport.”
Bad experiences with coaches and teammates often lead people to lose passion for the sports they once loved. The PV girls soccer team has fallen victim to this trend with significant losses, and the upcoming spring season will determine whether the team is able to learn and recover from them.
