By Piper Hubbell

Varsity girls soccer coach Justin Young is finally the coach to stay.

After his starting season last year, Young plans to solidify his position as a coach and bring his knowledge from past coaching experiences.

Young was a coach for middle school soccer programs at Pembroke Hill and is currently a coach for the boy’s soccer program in Pembroke as well.

Having a coach stay for more than one season could signal a change for the program. This year’s season marks the first time in four years that the program will have the same coach two years in a row.

“When you have a coaching consistency, it really lends itself to success in the program because every year you don’t have someone new coming into the program with new expectations, new understandings, and the girls have to build the trust with the coach,” Young said. “It’s kind of just a back-and-forth battle.”

This year, he plans to improve the foundation that he laid last season. He wants to not only improve the team’s success, but also individual success for each and every player.

The program’s past inconsistent coaching had noticeable impact in terms of team performance and players’ mindsets, he said.

“With consistent coaching, the players are able to know that the expectations are going forward,” Young said.

Senior AnnaKate Kleiböhmer, a former varsity soccer player, decided not to continue with the program this year due to past coaching issues.

“Every coach focuses on something different,” Kleibohmer said. “Some have emphasis on conditioning, some on skills, and so every year it’s hard to come into it not knowing what to expect and every year having to relearn the game and adjust to the different styles and all of the different formations.”

This caused a huge restart for the team each season. Everything the team had worked for in the previous year had to be started back at the beginning.

Also, the coaching conundrum made each player come into the season with an individualistic attitude. Instead of already having the relationship and bond with the coach from the previous year, the players had to take time establishing themselves in front of the coach first before working as a team. It caused players to lose time working on things like team chemistry and team unity as they focused on learning the new coach’s style.

Senior, varsity player Kayla Duncan is a returning player this year who is optimistic about the rest of the season.

“I believe we should do a lot better now with already a year with the coach,” Duncan said. “I think we can focus on other things like our style of play and how to act around the coach.”

Young started off the season strong by coaching a 2-0 win over Pembroke Hill on March 25 and 2-1 win over Baldwin on April 1.

With two wins to start the season, the program has gained confidence and is hoping for a better season with a familiar coach.

“I think [having a consistent coach] will definitely help the program to have one coach going forward cause you know what to expect and the girls can work together better because they don’t have to worry about the new coach,” senior and varsity player Laura Neilson said.