Learning With Experience: Kickin' It With The Wolverines | Ep. 8

With a week off to work on fundamentals and reset, the Bentonville West Wolverines feel really good about where they are heading into the final stretch of the regular season. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:14

Welcome into another episode of Kicking It with the Wolverines. I'm your host, Alyssa Orange, alongside head coach Carrie Castillo. And coach, it's kind of been a little bit uh of a laid-back week for you guys in terms of just only having one game this past week. Uh, and it was against Harbor, and you get that win. We'll talk a little bit more about that. Uh, but having a little bit of downtime to kind of get back to the basics, what did you guys spend the week doing?

SPEAKER_00 0:36

Yeah, it didn't feel like a downtime. It didn't feel like downtime. We we worked really hard uh Monday, Tuesday, and then Wednesday we backed off and and spent some time just uh perfecting some things, if you will, you know, really trying to hone in on some on some fundamental things like finishing and um just being ready for set pieces, corners, and free kicks and stuff like that. But Monday and Tuesday we got after it. We really looked at some things that will help us going forward against really high quality opponents that we face every day in the 6A West, but also looking ahead to the playoffs and some things that that can help us be ready for the playoffs and and work on those things at a really high rate uh of pace. And so that I feel like we got a lot better. I feel like we got a lot better Monday and Tuesday working. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:29

Is that just kind of something that you guys like to do when you have this time around this time of the year as you as you start to get ready for the postseason?

SPEAKER_00 1:39

Yeah, you know, I try and break our year uh as far as strength conditioning and the tactic into peaking periods where we give them small doses and then and gradually accumulate at certain times of the year so that we can hit peaks and our sports performance variables and our tactical variables at really strategic points in the year. And this is one of those points, right as we're about to start the playoffs. Uh, we begin to add a little more accumulation of sprinting and strength work and explosive work and really hone in on tactics and training those things at faster paces, a little more chaotic environment in the training environment. And but we give it to them in small doses so that we're also respecting their workload, you know, because this time of year you got AP testing and finals and all kinds of other things that are going to stress their central nervous system. And so we have to be really careful in just small doses, right? Just what it what they're gonna need to continue to develop.

SPEAKER_01 2:51

How have you felt like, and we've talked about them a lot, right? The these juniors uh or these sophomores and freshmen that you guys have on your varsity roster. Um, how have you think that they've really grown since the beginning of the season?

SPEAKER_00 3:06

So much. I would it's so hard to explain, and it's hard for them to really get the full spectrum of how much they've learned. You know, we have all these metrics that we collect and speed and explosiveness, strength, and all these things, but it's hard for them to really grasp how much better they've uh gotten as a player because you know the only metrics you really collect there are goals and assists, right? But when we show them, and I my staff has done a fantastic job of this of showing them different metrics in the game that we can gather that are not just goals and assists, and showing them that week after week, how much better they've gotten uh as a team and individually. And so when we do do that, it it really opens their eyes to whoa, I I am playing at a really high, high pace right now and at a really high level right now. So I I can't say enough about our freshmen. I think we started four, maybe five freshmen last night, and uh and still only only one senior that that started, but we had seniors come off the come off the bench and do fantastic jobs. Uh one Katie Meeker uh came in and she scored on a header, scored our first goal on a header. She's a senior, and the assists came from a freshman. And so they're just they're all doing such a great job of working together and developing together. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 4:38

Yeah. Well, let's talk about it since you mentioned the game with Harbor, a two-to-one win uh and a big time win. Again, any any win right now in the 6A West is a big win.

SPEAKER_00 4:48

It's it's yeah, everyone is big, everyone is big, especially coming down into the the final stretch, if you will, where we only have maybe five games remaining, I believe it is. Yeah, so we have BHS Tuesday, and then Springdale Friday, and then Fayetteville and Forsemet Southside the the following week, the last week of regular season play, and then so Harbor would have been the fifth match, yeah. So every one of those is gonna be a tough opponent, you know, and then you got the rivalry, battle down 102 on Tuesday. That's gonna be a big one. So yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 5:24

What did you like that you saw out of that Harbor game? Before we jump ahead to what lies next week, yeah, sure.

SPEAKER_00 5:31

Um, you know, the the biggest thing was the way we have begun to play together more and move the ball together. Uh, the fluidity of our movement and play last night was just so good, such a high quality. We created, I believe it was 14 chances to score in the first half alone. I mean, and they were awesome chances. Just the way we were moving the ball and being able to manipulate the opponent according to some of the tactics we had worked on earlier in the week, and then to see them go out and actually execute and perform, if you will, it was great. Uh, our midfield played fantastic. Yeah, just the way we took care of the balls was fantastic.

SPEAKER_01 6:19

Yeah, and sometimes, you know, they say, and I'm sure as a coach, you recognize if you have a little bit more of a bigger gap in between games like you guys did because uh of not playing earlier in the week, you just maybe hope that your team comes out as fresh as possible. Do you feel like they just didn't skip a beat, even though you had a little bit more of a gap in between the last time you played?

SPEAKER_00 6:38

Yeah, you know, uh, I was I was it's so coincidental you say that because we shortened our warm-up period last night by about 15 minutes to ensure that we were just microdosing things and and getting them to start fast. And we did. Boy, we started fast. Probably the best first half we've played all year, quite honestly.

unknown 7:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 7:01

Is that something uh is that something that you might uh continue to do then if it works so well?

SPEAKER_00 7:08

Yeah, I think so. Um, you know, they they begin to we don't want the players to fall into routine, right? Because then focus can drift, you know. So we you know, we have some key tenets that we are gonna that we always stay true to the day of a match and leading out, you know, and leading into the match, you know, an hour out that we're never gonna get away from. But as it gets warmer and as homework assignments increase and the other stresses you know of life begin to accumulate for them, then we can begin to peel away some things and and just do exactly what's needed, like I said, a microdose. Yeah, so that we're keeping them fresh and ready to play. And they were, I think honestly, uh, I think not having a game on Tuesday left them more ready to play because they hadn't played in a week, yeah. So they were looking forward to the match.

SPEAKER_01 8:05

Yeah, that makes sense. Well, I know they're looking forward to the next match uh with Bentonville, right? And and that one's always circled. We've talked about it a million times up into uh the first time you guys played this year, which was a two-to-two tie. So taking away what you learned from the first time around against them and where your team has grown since that game, what is again, without giving anything away, the game plan heading into this second meeting with the Tigers.

SPEAKER_00 8:30

Yeah, just staying true to who we are as a team and playing um the style and the and the philosophy that we want to play and stay true to. Uh, I think the first time we played them, you know, whenever you play in these these big games like the BHS and the Fayetteville and Rogers, and you you know, players can begin to, and and coaches too, guilty, can begin to just do what is necessary to get a result or to just create a chance to score rather than staying true to what we know is going to help us in the long run. You know what I mean? And so I think the key uh not just to performing well and winning game and improving for the playoffs is to stay true to the things that we've been trying to really develop lately with our players individually and as a whole. And so I I feel like if we do that, then we'll create the chances we need to score without forcing some things and forcing ourselves into a style of play that we're not necessarily great at or comfortable with. If we'll just do the things we're really good at, then we're gonna find the result that we want.

SPEAKER_01 9:42

Yeah. So you said that one's on Tuesday next week uh at Bentonville, correct?

SPEAKER_00 9:48

Yes, yes.

SPEAKER_01 9:49

At Bentonville on the road, uh, but not too too far from home. And then you have Springdale and then Fayetteville um as your next two coming up, um, and just kind of looking again down the stretch. And then you said Fort Smith Northside, I believe. So these last couple of games before conference play starts, what do you want to see um as you guys continue to get better?

SPEAKER_00 10:10

I want to see us peak more. I want to see us, I want to see us finish the chances that we create. We're creating so many great opportunities inside of the penalty area uh to score goals. And we're just we're either hitting the ball a little too hard, a little too high, or or um right at the keeper. And you know, you see these things happening, and but the chances that we're creating, we weren't creating a month ago. So you can see the growth, and it's like, oh my gosh, we're like right there, so close to putting the last piece of the puzzle in, you know, and so that's really what I'd like to see over the next four games is before we go into the playoffs, that if you to use a cliche hitting on all cylinders, you know, right. Our goalkeepers are playing great. I feel like our back line is playing great, our midfield, our forwards, we're all doing all these great things, and we just need the finishing touch to really be ready to make the championship run we want to make.

SPEAKER_01 11:19

Yeah, so it sounds just maybe offensively, you guys have not fully tapped into what you're capable of doing from a scoring standpoint, right?

SPEAKER_00 11:28

Right. It's just the the the final product isn't on the scoreboard yet. It's on the field, you can see it in the play. We're just not we're not changing the light bulbs on the scoreboard.

SPEAKER_01 11:41

Yeah, you can see it on tape though. You can see it, you're right there, you're right there on the cusp. Uh, and of course, there's a lot of soccer left to play before uh the postseason starts. Uh, I know we'll talk about it a little bit more when we get to that point. I don't want to jump ahead too much, but I do want to ask you just about, you know, the the postseason run and and this this tournament this year going to hot springs uh instead of playing uh in in UCA like it has the last couple of years. What do you think about the change in venue?

SPEAKER_00 12:11

I think it'll be really neat, to be honest with you. It's it'll be a change um and a change of scenery for everybody, you know. Uh Lakeside has great facilities. Uh that's I've got family in that area, so I'm looking forward to that. We gotta we've got to make it to Hot Springs first, but you know, the playoffs are in Conway, and so um my family and I have a lot of people down there, and so that's that's exciting because you know they'll be get to be there and uh just having it at Hendrix, the playoffs that is at Hendrix and then the semifinals at Conway. I don't want to get ahead of myself, sure, but when we won the state championship in 2022, that's where the playoffs were held, and so you know that's uh you know, in the back of my mind, and I'm thinking, and I've I've I've drawn parallels between that team in 2022 and the team now, and I've told them a lot of these parallels and and talked to them about you know some of the ways that they remind me. Uh, but but just you know, that new scenery, it's gonna be really cool, it's gonna be a new experience. And uh hopefully we can be we can be one of the groups in Hot Springs late in May. They get to play the first final at Hot Springs Lakeside.

SPEAKER_01 13:28

Yeah, well, hey, those good vibes, that good juju, always a good thing, not a bad thing, right? Right, but of course, we don't want to get our head of ourselves one game at a time. And as you mentioned, Bittonville up next, and then Springdale, Fayetteville, and Fort Smith, Northside. Hey, we've hit that part of the show like we usually do to end it all. It's our favorite part of the show, your feel good moment of the week. What you got for me this week, Coach?

SPEAKER_00 13:51

You know, I've been thinking about this for a couple of days, actually, knowing that we were leading up to this when I when I jump on the stream at the right time. Jeez, yeah. And I've had a couple, um, and I I just can't pick one.

SPEAKER_01 14:06

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 14:06

So uh honestly, I have to give a shout out to our junior varsity and our junior varsity staff, they have done a fantastic job all year long. But this week uh we played Gravitz Varsity at West and won six to one, and just every one of those kids, the the energy that they have. We went to Fort Smith Northside and played Fort Smith Southside on Monday and won four to zero there, and just the energy that those kids bring. They love the game. It is so fun to be around them and to see not just them express joy for getting to play, just being able to play the game, but to celebrate one another and the way that they encourage each other, it's just so great. It's and it's so fun. Uh, and so they have done a fantastic job, uh, our our JV team and staff, and then also have to point to Maddie Cooper again. We talked about Maddie last week, you know, coming in against heritage and assisting our second goal. And so, with about 10 minutes left in the first half last night, if I'm not mistaken, put in Maddie Cooper, put in senior Katie Meeker at the same time, and I just simply asked Maddie, Maddie, go in and whip in some really great crosses, like we know you can. And the I mean, the first touch she took, I believe it was Michaela Sullivan stole the ball in the midfield, plays it to Maddie, and then Maddie whips in a cross, and Katie finished it on a header for our first goal. And it was just it was fantastic, and just to see that light up, you know, oh man, it was great. Yeah, that's awesome. Yeah, she was great again. Maddie Cooper, high five.

SPEAKER_01 15:59

There you go, Maddie. I love it, I love it. And two feel good moments of the week, definitely worth the recognition of again. Lots of soccer left. Always great to talk with you. And of course, we do it every week here on kicking it with the Wolverines. And so make sure to join us every week while we talk some bit in Mill West girl soccer. Coach, thanks so much as always for the time. I'm Alyssa Orange, he is Carrie Castillo, and we will see you next time right here on Kicking It with the Wolverine.