Like any other high school sport, soccer is a major commitment. These athletes have to learn to manage their time, as they have school work, soccer, clubs, or possibly a job on their plate.

Each day after school in the fall, the soccer team has practice or a game.

On game day, the team starts off with warm ups. Before games, the players pass the ball back and forth to get loose. They split off into two lines to get in their pre-game stretches. After they stretch, the team works on their passes a little more.

When playing soccer, the team considers these rituals as a superstition.

“We [have done] the same warm ups every game since I was a freshman.” Junior striker Brayden Schwartz said.

After the first half, PV Roy Nygren calls for a pep talk. Nygren pulls aside his players and talks about their performance. If the team had a good first half, the conservation is about how to keep it up. If PV had a rough start, they’d get advice to fix their mistakes.

“It’s more individual at halftime. The coach talks to you, tells you what you did good and what you need to improve on,” sophomore winger Luke Palamidis said. “He also talks to us as a whole. If we come out weak as a team, [Nygren] will pounce on that and he yells at us for that.”

Postgame is similar to halftime, serving as a time to talk with the team and the individual performances.

When practice comes around, the team works on what it struggled with in previous games. For the players, practices end at around 4:30 p.m. For games, the players generally get home around 9:30 p.m.

Weekday games normally start at 7 p.m. and combined with the bus ride and the post-game conversation, it turns into a late night. However, players don’t seem to mind, because they seem to enjoy being together.

“The camaraderie with the teammates is very strong,” Palamidis said. “The players on the team are close. 

On top of the soccer season, these student-athletes have the other commitment of school work. Schwartz doesn’t think it’s easy, but also noted an important strategy.

“If you don’t procrastinate, it’s not too hard to manage.” Schwartz said.  “Soccer is a big commitment but there is time to manage your work.”

Despite the fact that Valley’s season ended in the first round of the sectional tournament, the grind doesn’t stop for the Indians. With indoor soccer and workouts during the offseason, soccer is a year round commitment, and it requires skill, determination, and hard work.