After consecutive strong seasons, the Carlmont JV soccer team started tryouts last week with high expectations.
The tryouts started on Oct. 30 at Carlmont’s main turf field. Close to 90 players attended tryouts, but only 40 could make either the freshman or JV team. All have exceptional talent, leaving the coaches with tough decisions to make.
“The quality is getting better every single day,” said Sean Campos, this year’s JV coach.
Campos is the new JV head coach after last year’s coach, Ryan Freeman, was appointed to varsity.
“The new coach is great. He’s nice, and he really wants us to get better and learn, and he’s really good to have as a coach,” said Ben Slater, a sophomore trying out for JV.
During the first two days of tryouts, coaches had the players do drills, including one versus one’s. This helps coaches have a good understanding of players’ capabilities on a technical level.
On the third day, JV tryouts consisted of an 11 versus 11 player scrimmage. This helps the coaches identify how players play in game-realistic situations, according to Campos.
“The tryouts are very tiring because the coaches expect your best, but it’s also really fun. It’s nice to be out here playing with all my friends. Even though some of us get cut in the end, it’s still great to have this opportunity,” Slater said.
After a couple of days of tryouts, players are looking forward to their possible future teammates.
“The players this year, I see lots of potential, and there is a lot of talent, so I really look forward to this season,” said Alex Kim, a sophomore trying out for JV.
Although the players enjoy their time at tryouts, it is still very competitive, with dozens trying out for a limited number of spots on the team.
“We had close to 90 people trying out, and we are only taking 40 for both teams, so the cut percentage is over 50%,” Campos said.
As playing on a school team can be very time-consuming because of daily practices and many games, players are planning how they will manage their time.
“It’s definitely going to be a struggle, especially because we are practicing five nights a week, so it’s going to be a lot of weekend work and time management during the week. But in the end, it’s all worth it,” Slater said.
With less than a week left of tryouts, players are anticipating the upcoming season.
“I can’t wait to be the best team member I can and help Carlmont do really well this JV soccer season,” Kim said.
As well as the players, Campos has big ambitions for his first season coaching the Carlmont soccer JV boys.
“We are going to win and develop the program,” Campos said.
