Through two winless seasons it would be easy for Thunder Mountain High School\u2019s boys soccer team to hang their heads, mail it in, or just transfer to Juneau-Douglas High School. But like Confucius, the Falcons boys know their greatest glory isn\u2019t to never fall, but rather to rise every time they fall.<\/p>\n
Senior Ben Garrett, speaking after a 6-0 senior night loss to JDHS, said he is proud to be part of a resilient group that never indulged in self-pity or negative attitudes.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese coaches, they enforce positive attitudes,\u201d Garrett said. \u201cThat\u2019s one of the most important things because that\u2019s contstantly a battle if you\u2019re going to lose a lot and go against teams like JD who are really, really good. You have to have a positive attitude, so it helps to have great coaches who reinforce that.\u201d<\/p>\n
TMHS graduates six seniors this year: Joyh Seymour, Rifqi Zulfahmi, Jeremiah Stephens, Ma\u2019ake Ma\u2019ake, Andrew Clark and Ben Garrett. The boys have gone through three different head coaches in their careers, and they\u2019ve seen a huge improvement under the tutelage of head coach Tim Lewis and assistant coach Josh Odum, who are the first pair to coach this group for longer than one season.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf I look back from where we started freshman year, we\u2019re in a lot better place,\u201d Garrett said. \u201cIt\u2019s taken a long time and we\u2019ve had a lot of obstacles: the changing of coaches or people moving to JD, moving (out of town) or just deciding not to play. Throughout all that we\u2019re a better team still and that\u2019s just a really big deal to me because it\u2019s about building the program.\u201d<\/p>\n
Odum has worked with standout goalkeeper John Seymour since his youth soccer years. Seymour feels he wouldn\u2019t be the same keeper without Odum\u2019s help, and that the team has improved substantially under coach Lewis.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think Tim (Lewis) and Josh (Odum) staying has been very important to the program,\u201d Seymour said. \u201cJust from the beginning of the year they\u2019ve progressed the program so much. A lot of these freshmen have seen so much growth,\u201d Seymour said.<\/p>\n
\u201c(The growth) has been exponential,\u201d Garrett said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe coaches are like fire and water, but they work very well together. It\u2019s just going to build up from here,\u201d Stephens said. \u201cI am looking forward to see what these freshmen are going to do.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ma\u2019ake, a senior striker who\u2019s going on to play college football at El Camino College, said he will miss practicing with his soccer family the most.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy favorite thing about soccer was just coming to practice with a bunch of positive people around you,\u201d he said. \u201cThey\u2019re always cheering you on, they\u2019re like another family that you can count on, on and off the field.\u201d<\/p>\n
Clark agreed, saying, \u201cI think I\u2019ll always remember practices. They\u2019re very focussed but they\u2019re always fun. I think if we keep building the way we have, the freshmen this year, when they\u2019re seniors, will have a shot at state.\u201d<\/p>\n
A couple more highlights the boys mentioned:<\/p>\n
Most victorious moment: \u201cProbably second half of the North Pole game. We were just on point. We didn\u2019t win, but we dominated the field,\u201d Garrett said.<\/p>\n
Favorite team quote: \u201cPlay clean, but aggressive, and always work twice as hard as your opponent,\u201d Ma\u2019ake said. \u201cWhen I ask (coach Josh Odum) if I can play dirty, he said \u2018a little bit,\u2019\u201d said Zulfahmi, who is known for the catchphrase, \u201cOh, it\u2019s so hot!\u201d, which he once said after a particularly hard shot.<\/p>\n
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