KINGWOOD — When the referee’s final three-whistle blast in the Preston boys’ soccer team’s final game marked the end of the 2020 season, coach Josh Russell realized it might be his last game on the PHS sidelines.
Not because he was no longer interested in coaching. The relentlessly positive and encouraging mentor helped the Knights bounce back in recent years into an improving program, and he was looking forward to continuing to build his team into state tournament qualifier contenders.
The existential issue for Preston boiled down to a numbers game: Of the 18 rostered players, an even dozen were graduating. And six players doesn’t make a soccer roster, at any level.
“So we had to get to work recruiting players,” Russell said, “and I told every returning player that they’d have to do their part to find players if they wanted a chance to play in 2021.”
As it turns out, Russell’s reputation as a coach who fosters a family atmosphere, who builds players up rather than tear them down, had not gone unnoticed by the underclassmen and rising freshmen from the middle school soccer programs in the county.
“It wasn’t too tough to recruit kids to come out,” senior Josh Montgomery said. “Coach Russell has so much positive energy, and he’s bringing a solid soccer culture back to Preston. The fact that we have so many new kids coming out shows that we have a solid foundation, with room for the program to grow. As a senior, that’s important to me, to know we’re getting better and will keep going.”
So, with a program-sustaining 17 players on his roster, Russell admits, now that he’s got a team, he’s got some coaching challenges ahead.
“There’s so much energy and excitement from the freshmen and sophomores, and a boatload of talent as well,” he said. “So, my job is to teach multiple positions for several players — we just don’t have the luxury of leaving players in one spot — and to find out as quickly as possible what formation gives us the best chance to be successful. We are evaluating each player’s strengths and weaknesses, and hopefully we can find the best way for us to play.
“With every young team, communication will be key. Young, inexperienced players have to learn to talk on the field much more than they’re used to, and continuous movement without the ball will be emphasized as well. When we help each other, both on and off the field, we will find success.”
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