New season, new expectations, and new approaches. The season that starts this August has begun practice in the spring. The men’s soccer team has an optimistic future ahead of them; every year there’s a new batch of players that try out and contribute their talents to the team. Last season, they finished the season at 13-8-2 overall, and 8-3-1 in the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) conference. This season, they get to start fresh and hopefully be the top team in their conference.

In order to be a strong contender this season, the team will need to possess certain characteristics. Head coach, Trey Livingston, said that in order to reach their goal of being top 3 in their conference, his team would need to be “disciplined, train in the offseason, and dedicated.”

I had the chance of interviewing Livingston during the beginning of the season. When new and returning students try out, they are being assessed for a lot of things. When judging the team beforehand, Livingston looks for certain qualities in his team, “Technical skill, effort, physicality, and smart players,” is what I look for in a team every year. Concerning their strength and weaknesses, Livingston said, ” I see that the team has good skills and they are in pretty good shape, but we can improve in our discipline and effort. That is something that seems to be lacking.” However, Coach Livingston was optimistic and looking for a great season with a strong-willed team.