By Zachary Fletcher
The women’s soccer team’s 2016 season brought excitement and success to the Puget Sound soccer community. The team ended the season going 13-4-3 with 10 conference wins and over 30 goals scored throughout the season. Head coach Joe Vari was in his first season with the team, having been named head coach back in March of 2016. As he and the team head into their second season, they’ve got their sights set even higher.
Vari spoke of the adjustments he needed to make when coming on as head coach last season.
“When you come to a new school, you think things will be the same and that’s not always the case. Pretty much the game itself was the same; it has 11 people and the ball is still round. Everything else was different,” Vari said. There was much to learn in his first year on campus, both on and off the field.
“You learn about your players, about the conference schools, how the schedule works and then on top of that you have to figure out the basic day-to-day items in the office. What buildings are what, how does the phone/e-mail work, booking travel in a new region, recruiting, admission, etc.,” he added. “The first year is a crazy change.”
Logistically, Vari has settled in and now understands even more about his team. “I have a solid understanding of how our group works and how classes affect our student athletes and training times,” Vari said.
The student-athletes of the team recognize the drastic change and acknowledge Vari’s ability to keep thing fairly consistent both on and off the field,
“A lot of times with new coaches there can be setbacks because the flow is broken. However, when Joe came in, I saw few if any setbacks. I feel the team transitioned well with a new coach,” junior Elizabeth McGraw (Moses Lake, Washington) said about last year’s squad.
Senior Emily Prasil (Lake Oswego, Oregon) also acknowledged the success last year despite missing the conference championship. “We were undefeated at home and posted as many overall goals as our previous championship year.”
Both McGraw and Prasil speak highly of their second-year coach, especially with regards to the type of practices he runs.
“His practices look for constant improvement. He always has a concept he wants to work on during practice,” McGraw said.
“Coach Vari cultivates positive team dynamics that include a culture of holding each other to high standards and keeping each other accountable over our long season,” Prasil added. “Those are essential links to our program’s impressive legacy.”
Vari speaks of his venturesome practice regiments with an emphasis on trying new things: “We approached our training sessions with a different perspective and taught a lot of new concepts this fall. We’ve worked with a couple of different formations, and have finally found one that fits with this group.”
Both Vari and his players acknowledge the success and near-champion status of last season, but they choose to focus on the present. Each new season loses seniors, but those seniors are replaced by talented first-year students backing up a strong upper class of athletes.
“We look at each year independent of the last. The team dynamic is always different as you add and graduate players, and that makes every year a different story,” Vari said. “That’s the fun part and the hard part, every year is a little different and requires something new,” he added.
Coach Vari’s players also share an appreciation for the level of coaching they’ve experienced while at Puget Sound.
“Joe is very approachable and easy to talk to. He is very understanding and always open for suggestions from players and coaches,” McGraw said.
“I feel very fortunate to have played under two great college coaches. Their soccer programs have brought out the best of who I am as a player and have reinforced the character building aspects of competitive sports,” Prasil said.
Despite this being only his second year on campus, Coach Vari has cultivated a talented core of soccer players at Puget Sound. Their first season was a strong showing for the then-first-year head coach. But as Coach Vari suggests, each season brings something new and can’t be based on previous years. The continuation of Coach Vari as head coach surely has the women’s soccer program headed to the heights in the coming season.