New players, new jersey, new year — but most of all, the Lady Spartans soccer team has a new coach.
Coach Shelly Rose was the head girl’s soccer coach for the past six years until she made the personal decision to leave White Station High School. The team, puzzled with confusion and worry, no longer had that uneasy feeling after Morgan Ivy voluntarily took Rose’s position.
“Coach Rose coached me until my junior year,” Zoe Taylor (11) said. “[When I first heard the news], I was nervous because I thought her work was going to be a lot less and we were not going to be as prepared as we were with Coach Rose. But then I realized her work is a lot harder.”
The team has a new set of warmups and workouts to emphasize Morgan’s vision of a strong and fit team. Before the season even started, Ivy created a new fitness test to determine whether or not a player could start in a game.
“[The] [w]orkouts and training are a lot more intense and [we] do more drills and scrimmages more,” Taylor said.
A successful coach is passionate, fully engaged with the team to ensure they are prepared for all aspects of a game, and enhances both their player’s technical and creative skills. For Ivy, it’s more important that all the players give their best effort and commit to playing all season long.
“She likes hard work and she rewards people who come to everything,” Leighton Melton (12) said. “Attendance is very important to her.”
Their training began before school started. During the early days of summer, the team was stretching, sprinting and practicing drills.
“Summer fitness is very memorable because it’s very early in the morning and everybody’s true personality is shown,” Melton said.
Melton, who previously played soccer for two years at St. Agnes Academy, noticed the differences among the two teams — especially when it comes to competitiveness and endurance.
“You get pushed more on [this] team,” Melton said. “Coach Morgan has done a good job of pushing us in many ways.”
Even though the coach is new, the team chemistry is still there. With each game, whether they lose or win, the team sparks their chemistry and learns from each mistake.
“So far, my favorite memory [with the team] has probably been our game against Harding, even though it was the most difficult and emotional,” Taylor said. “[I]t showed how well we work together as a team in our first game and showed what we can lead up to.”
From going to Gibson’s donuts or getting pizza from Garibaldi’s and watching the University of Memphis women’s soccer games, the team strengthens their connection with one another, increasing their ability to uplift each other on the field.
“Learning about [your team members] in a non-intensive environment can really help create friendships and play together as a unit,” Taylor said.
The impact Ivy has on the players has mainly improved physical well-being and the improvement of how much more their bodies can endure.
“She’s definitely gotten me into fitness more and I feel like my stamina and resistance have increased,” Taylor said.
Last year, the team won city and district championships, losing to Collierville High School in the regional tournament to go to state. The goal for the team this year is to win all three major tournaments and raise the school spirit.
“[Our goal is to] make it to what we did last year and grow as a team, especially as a team with a new leader,” Taylor said.