Let the games begin

Two young teams will be hitting the soccer field this fall, with the Greenwave and Lady Wave’s first tournament coming this weekend.

Both teams travel to Winnemucca Friday for the season’s kick off tournament. From there, they play the first official games of the season Wednesday in Fernley.

The girls’ team does not have extensive experience this year. Coach Randy Hines said they have about 25 freshmen and sophomores between the junior varsity and varsity squads. Between the two teams, there are 35 players.

There is some experience on the team from last year, however. Six seniors are returning with five juniors and one returning sophomore.

Hines noted their plan is to keep the varsity team small and bring players up from JV as needed; the goal is to have a team of 16 for varsity — they currently have 14 players selected.

“We’re still kinda trying to pull out here and there,” he said. “We play Fernley on the 30th; then we’ll finalize that roster for our Sept. 6 game.”

Monday evening, the Lady Wave held its first scrimmage of the season, playing North Valleys. Hines said the team is in a better position now than at the start of last season. He noted the older players were already experienced and did not need to learn as many new skills.

“Out of our 14 (varsity) athletes, we probably have 10 of them that have varsity experience,” he said.

The coach noted a championship season still would take a lot of work.

“Hopefully we can bring that experience that we gained last year to help us get through those close games,” Hines said. “Like I told the kids, they’re going to have to work this year, nothing’s going to come easy for them.”

The boys’ team also is very young. There are no seniors and only a handful of juniors among the sophomores and freshmen. There are 18 players this year, though one is currently down with an injury.

The boys’ team also has a brand new coach.

Nate Toigo has played soccer his entire life, but will be taking up coaching for the first time.

As of Monday, the team has had about a week of practice. Toigo said they are working on getting in shape for the season. He’s confident everything will come together as they practice more and have actual time on the field.

“We’re slowly getting there,” the coach said. “As they grow and as they get older they’ll be a lot better.”

He’s confident the players will be ready for their first games; in the meantime, they have been on the field practicing every day.

“We’ll be ready,” Toigo said. “I think we’ll see some victories this year.”