What does it take to be a member of the Panther girls’ soccer program?

Our coaching philosophy at Paul VI is simple. We want players to learn, to improve and to have fun. More importantly, we believe that if players demonstrate the “3 Ds” -- dedication, determination and desire -- they will achieve positive results regardless of the outcome of any match. It is our goal to teach players how to perform at the optimum level of their ability, whether it is a game or practice. We believe they should perform with a consistently maximum effort at every practice. Players should be serious but they should also have fun. There are appropriate moments in every practice and game to be serious, just as there are also appropriate moments to laugh and enjoy themselves. The key is to know the difference between the two. 

Our coaching staff also believes every player must be able to apply fundamental skills to game situations. These include dribbling, passing and trapping, of course. However, ball skills alone are of no value if a player cannot apply these techniques to appropriate game situations. Players must understand the fundamentals of individual and team offense and defense. Every player should know and understand the significance of space: how to create it, how to penetrate it, and how to deny it. Additionally, players should learn to recognize numerical equations during game situations. Too often, players fail to grasp the smaller “battles within the war.”  They must learn to break down the 11v11 full field match into the 3v1, 4v2, 2v1 smaller sided games. This will allow them to read, anticipate and adjust to the “flow” of the game. Finally, players must understand their role in a team environment. TEAM: Together Everyone Achieves More! Each player is but one cog of the machine. All 11 players contribute some responsibility to every result. When players learn their roles and respect the roles of their teammates, then the whole team benefits because they learn to share the accountability of victory and defeat.  

You might wonder what it takes to be selected as a member of the PVI soccer program. PVI’s soccer roster has its limits. We would like to keep all the players who tryout for our program, but unfortunately that scenario is impossible. So our staff attempts to pick the best 36 players available to us through a fair and unbiased, yet subjective evaluation process. We are looking for athletes (strong, fast, physical players) with the greatest technical ability and tactical awareness. However, experience isn’t necessarily the only key component for selection. The coaches are looking for maximum effort every time a player steps on the field. We value a player’s coachability and her willingness to apply learned knowledge to game situations and the ability to adjust to new and different situations. Finally, as previously mentioned, the staff is looking for players that exhibit the 3Ds: dedication, determination and desire. If you can demonstrate some or all of these characteristics during the tryouts, then you may have the “right stuff” to join the girls’ soccer program in fall competition. We encourage you to tryout and wish you all the best of luck!