Winchester High School Soccer Team Rallies To Get Second in the State for 2007
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Years of practice and determination paid off in 2007, when the George Rogers Clark High School boys’ soccer team capped a winning season with a run for the state championship.
The final tournament game left the team with a second-place trophy but a first-place finish in the eyes of the entire Winchester community, soccer coach Greg Dyk says.
“I was proud of the way they played. Their outstanding performance created enthusiasm throughout the entire community,” Dyk says. “The final game drew one of the largest crowds anyone had seen at a state game in a long time. We had the opponent outnumbered, fan-wise, 4 to 1.”
The championship game, against Louisville’s St. Xavier High School, ended 5-1, but it “really was not a blow out,” Dyk adds.
“They scored three goals early, and then we scored one, so it was a fairly close game for the most part,” he continues. “We just ran into an incredible team.”
It was the Cardinals’ first appearance in a state-title soccer match, although the team had competed in Final Four playoffs on several previous occasions. The boys’ soccer team also has won a number of district championships and is a consistently strong competitor in regional-level play, adds Dyk, a 12-year veteran of the George Rogers Clark athletic staff.
The 2007 varsity roster totaled more than 40 players, including 13 seniors.
“The senior class was a unique group,” Dyk says. “Most of these players had been around the program beginning in their eighth- or ninth-grade year, and many played varsity as freshmen.
“They took some lumps … and it paid off this year.”Contributions by assistant coaches Patrick Fitzgerald, Coke Shukla and Mike Vanhooser were reflected in the team’s winning season, as were those of junior varsity coach Bill Kirk”, Dyk says.
A number of talented underclassmen will be returning for the 2008 season, the head coach predicts.
“We still have a lot of excellent athletes with good experience. If they work as hard as last year, they can be competitive at the state level again.”
The varsity players typically start weight and agility training in January of each year. Many join a club or select soccer team in March to keep their skills sharp throughout the spring. In July, pre-season training officially begins.
“Like a lot of other sports, it’s kind of a year-round commitment,” Dyk says.
“We stress teamwork and consistency, and we set high expectations academically. We’ve also been blessed with an excellent booster club.”
Members of the booster club raised funds for a new soccer field several years ago and added a press box and locker rooms in 2007.
Meanwhile, Cardinals hoops fans also celebrated a successful season in 2007, when the boys’ varsity basketball team made it to the finals of the state tournament.
The team, coached by Scott Humphrey, defeated Christian County 77-71 during a Sweet Sixteen match up in Lexington’s Rupp Arena before losing to the Ballard Bruins in the Elite Eight.
Story by Renee Elder
