Quite frankly, Emporia High soccer coach Steve Pearson is tired of doing it all.
Don’t be alarmed. Pearson is perfectly happy with his role as the Spartan leader.
It’s just that he’s ready for his squad to play a game so he can finally hone in on what his team needs to work on.
“I am anxious to get the first game taken care of,” Pearson said. “Until you play, you don’t know where your weaknesses are. You’ve got to practice everything. We’re tired of doing everything. We’ve been doing this a long time — through two-a-days, summer camp and conditioning camp.
“You can’t just practice at a target; you’ve got to kill something once in a while to see how you’re doing.”
With the season just days away, Pearson is cautiously optimistic about his team this year, saying that while the Spartans will be young, “the young ones are a little older now, so they ought to be much more competitive than they were a year ago.”
One athlete that Pearson believes is capable of helping the Spartans become an improved team is Juan Carlos Rangel.
Rangel returns for his junior campaign coming off a 2005 season that saw him earn All-State honors as a defender.
Pearson has no trouble finding the words to describe Rangel, one of a handful of returning juniors who saw extensive varsity action as sophomores a year ago.
“Juan is tireless with perfect skills. He doesn’t make mistakes and he’ll go forever. He’s serious about the game and he reads the field well,” Pearson said. “He gets what he needs out of his other defenders, and if they can’t do it, then he’ll just go do it himself. He’s kind of an all-in-one man. He’s looking better every year.”
Rangel, who may also see time at midfield this season, admits he does make mistakes, contrary to what his coach says. But he adds that this season, he is trying to take on a more vocal role now that he has a year of experience to his name.
“Everybody makes mistakes,” Rangel said. “I want to help my teammates out, but I don’t try to make them feel bad or yell at them. Myself, I know I make mistakes. I know when I run the wrong play, I correct it and try to not let it happen again. I just try to keep the team together and tell the team what they’re doing right and wrong.”
While Rangel should help make scoring goals tough on opponents, a concern of Pearson lies in his own team’s ability to get the ball into the net more often.
“We’ve been waiting for a couple years to find that magic group up front,” he said. “You can’t win if you don’t score.”
There are, however, signs that the Spartans may have more offensive firepower this season.
A scrimmage on Tuesday ended with an 8-2 score, with half of those goals coming from sophomores.
Pearson has liked what he has seen from sophomore strikers Ryan and Brian Dorsey, who are twin brothers, and hopes the two can ignite a goal-scoring spark for EHS this season.
Ryan, who scored on a hat trick in Tuesday’s scrimmage, said while there is still learning left to do, he does see the Spartans becoming a more potent offensive squad.
“We still need to build our team up a little more, but that’s what these scrimmages are for,” Ryan said. “I think we’ll do well this year. We might struggle at the beginning because we’re a little young, but I think we’ll be fine as we get the season going.”
With a schedule that includes league games against perennial powers Washburn Rural, Topeka West, Shawnee Heights and Manhattan, Pearson’s troops won’t have to wait long to find out what they’re made of.
“We won’t know what kind of a team we are until we go against one of the powerhouses,” Pearson said. “Then we’ll see what we have. It’s easy when you scrimmage yourself because everybody knows each other and they know what works and what doesn’t work. When you meet someone else, all bets are off.”
EHS begins its season next Tuesday with a matchup against Wichita Northwest at TRYSA Soccer Complex.
EHS Alumni Game
and scrimmage
The EHS soccer team will hold its annual Alumni Game at 6 tonight at TRYSA, which precedes the Spartans’ last scrimmage before the season begins.
The public is invited to attend the event, which also will be a celebration of the 20th anniversary of the first soccer team at Emporia High.