By TIM TAYLORTioga County Sports Report
NEWARK VALLEY — The Newark Valley girls soccer team is low on numbers this season, something coach Chuck Schneider usually doesn’t have to worry about.
“It's lower than it’s been,” he said. “We're getting to be a smaller school and so we currently have 12. We're looking for a couple more, but we'll be alright. We have a lot of good solid athletes coming out, so it should be nice.
Despite the numbers and a fairly youthful roster, the Cardinals could still be competitive. Despite the graduation of three IAC South Small School all-stars, including the co-MVP, NV returns five other all-stars from a team that placed second in the division with a 7-3 record. Tioga was 8-2.
“We are going to be a really young team this year, so we're gonna have two different ends going,” Schneider said. “We have four seniors, but we have three 8th-graders and a 7th-grader, and then we have two juniors and two 9th-graders, so we're going to be on that young young side.”
With the youth, NV may have to look further down the road before it can be a legitimate challenger.
“The goal is going to be to just improve every game and then get a lot of the fundamentals down, get the team cohesion going, and kind of have this year be our stepping stone to the next future success,” Schneider said.
The coach likes the effort he’s seen during the early preseason.
"I really like how hard the team is working and how well they're getting along together,” he said. “We're gonna have to work on, with us being younger, fundamentals, passing and things, but they've already made great strides in just these two days, so I've been very proud of how hard they're working in practice.”
NV opens the season at Southern Cayuga, the North Small School runner-up, on Aug. 28.
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IN PHOTO 1: Chuck Schneider will work with lower numbers and a more youthful group than in recent years. IN TOP PHOTO: The Cardinals are working hard to blend a mix of veterans and youth. ... PHOTOS BY TIM TAYLOR.
