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***image1***With only seven girls returning after the spring season, Coach Bernd Englert prepared for a rebuilding project. The yearly change in players, created by frequent moves of military and DOD civilian families, is a fact of life for the German team stocked with American soccer players.
But to the coach’s surprise, the SG Hütschenhausen-Spesbach-Hauptstuhl Under-14 girl’s soccer team turned out a fall roster strong in numbers and ability. The team, combined from three clubs and called H.S.H., finished the fall season undefeated and in first place, outscoring its opponents 28-1.
The player losses started in the spring season, when its top scorers rotated back to the United States, beginning a slide that dropped the team from third to fifth place in the Sudwest Bezirksliga.
“We thought the fall would be hard because we lost a lot of last year’s team,” said Kristi Carrigan, Landstuhl Elementary/Middle School eighth-grader.
The returning kids provided a nucleus of gifted soccer players while the unknown factor was the arrival of new players. Soccer skills can take years to develop and patience is hard to come by in such a competitive league. But when the players started practice sessions, it became evident that the transfers came game-ready, many with years of experience in U.S. programs. Soccer in Germany offered the chance to see a different style of play, and Ramstein Middle School eighth-grader Mimi Rivera was up to the challenge.
“People said the games were very physical, but it wasn’t as rough as I thought it would be,” she said.
The club was able to redirect its efforts from teaching basic skills to turning a group of talented girls into a cohesive team. While the German teams in the league have kids who have played together for years, H.S.H. must re-create teams each year.
“It was hard at first,” said Ally Murphy, Kaiserslautern Middle School eighth-grader. “You can throw me in with new people and I’m OK, but I do better when I know how my teammates play.”
The girls worked hard in their twice-a-week practices to become more familiar with each other and hone their skills. Ramstein High School freshman Sarah Howard, in her third year with the club, best described the result.
“We didn’t rebuild, we just reloaded … with better bullets.”
