Hastings Senior High School has an indoor soccer season for boys and girls who are thinking of playing in the spring season.
“Everything goes quicker because it’s a smaller surface, so you have to move the ball and you can get the ball a lot more, and it helps with conditioning,” Senior Jacob Strand-Gjesdal said.
Indoor season helps teammates get to know one another before Spring season. It can help create trustworthy bonds that will come to play when undergoing an actual game.
“I think our team is full of positivity and girls with a lot of passion for the sport which causes us all to get along and be able to communicate with each other,” Junior Tracey Cerrato Ramirez said.
The girls have an open gym at the High School on Tuesday every week, unless something comes up. The boys have it once or twice a week at the High School, but they sometimes go to the YMCA to get some more scrimmaging time in.
“The team gets along great and there’s not really any fighting among teammates, we hang out with each other a lot, and we have good communication within the team when playing,” Strand-Gjesdal said.
The girls have their games on Sunday, and the boys have theirs on Saturdays. They have their games at the Fieldhouse in Grand Island. They usually play in the morning or early afternoon against other schools from Grand Island, Kearney, York, and a few other places.
“Some obstacles our team has faced would be when our goalkeeper got a red card and that was pretty tough, and we only have one varsity goalkeeper. Another thing would be when we tied with one of the Kearney teams,” Strand-Gjesdal said.
The girls indoor teams are split up differently than the boys. The girls have two teams which are split up randomly, but the boys have an actual JV and a Varsity team. The girls coach is Clint Bucknell, and for the boys varsity team the coach is Brandon Solis, but for their JV team it is Victor Perez.
“Brandon and my dad push me to be a better player and have helped me start preparing for our actual Spring season. I have been trying my best since I know they are counting on me,” Junior Victor Manuel Perez Jr said.
The open gyms that they have help players practice different skills, and what they should do when in a real game. There may be some new people wanting to try the sport and if they go to the open gyms they will be able to get an idea of how it is played.
“Do not practice until you get it right, practice until you can not get it wrong,” Junior Ivan Ramirez said.
