No 'middle of the road' in
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Published Thursday, September 1, 1983 in the Evening Independent By HAL BRAMFORD There's no middle ground in the fall soccer program involving six county 1A schools. Keswick Christian coach Steve Short said it best when he observed, "Participating teams are either very string or quite weak. I would class about three, possibly four, in the first category and most of the rest in the latter." Looking at the coming season, his conclusions seem fully justified. Keswick falls into the former group, along with Tampa Prep, Lakeland Christian, and possibly St. Petersburg Christian. But for the other four Pinellas County entrants, it may be "have-not" time--although two of them could reach "middle-ground" status, which hasn't seemed to exist in the past. Almost without exception, each of the coaches named at least two of Short's "haves" as the teams to beat--Tampa prep and Keswick. Short also says St. Petersburg Christian could fit this grouping if everything comes together. The sleeper among the entries could be Thom Howard Academy, which lost just two players off a 7-11 squad last year and whose coach, Al Braithwaite, describes his prospects as "extremely optimistic." But elsewhere in the county, the outlook appears rather bleak. Canterbury is rebuilding, and Lutheran High School and Harvest Temple are stepping into faster competition and may have taken on more than they can handle. This is how it looks, team by team: KESWICK CHRISTIAN Last year, Keswick went 20-1 (the lone loss was to Tampa Prep), and Short believes his team will be almost as powerful in 1983, despite the loss of 10 seniors and a freshman starter. "We have six starters returning, and a total of 11 who had game experience with the 1982 squad. We'll have a good balance. We'll be string again." Among the key returnees are Matt Schmidt, who scored 48 goals a year ago, and Dave Raday, described as "an excellent ball-control midfielder." Also expected to help is Drew Logue, a transfer from St. Petersburg Christian. ST. PETERSBURG CHRISTIAN Coach Gene Sauls' Saints lost eight games by one goal in an 8-12 season last year, and he sees improvement this year only if "some of our youngsters come through immediately." That's a possibility since the junior varsity had an impressive 9-2 record in 1982. "We should have the offensive punch, but our defense may be suspect," Sauls says. If the goalie, Tim Arrington, plays up to his potential, the coach feels the team could finish above .500. CANTERBURY SCHOOL OF FLORIDA Canterbury broke even in 18 games in 1982, but lost eight seniors off that squad, which could indicate a so-so year upcoming. Coach Dennis Trout doesn't see it that way. "It's true, basically this will be a rebuilding year," he says. "We'll be relatively young, but we'll also be competitive." Much of his reliance will be on three returning starters, Phillip Clifford, a tough defensive sweeper; Jeff Swygert, a junior forward, and another junior, Boyd Johnson, at either midfield or forward. "Our surprise may be two very good players from Venezuela. They (Amelio and Jorge Vicens) have been soundly schooled…and we're looking for big things from them," Trout says. |
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State
soccer champions 1983 | Pre-season stories | Post-season stories | State final stories | A little about Keswick | Team photo and autographs | Directory of Related Links |
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