Robert David "Speck" Gros
January 13, 2009Downtown Art Gallery (Houma)
January 15, 2009
Despite being guided by the same coach, the Ellender soccer teams have completely different styles of play.
The Lady Patriots are not an aggressive, attacking team. In contrast, the Patriots boys’ team usually plays with too much eagerness.
It is up to head coach Beth Guidry, fifth-year with the girls, first-year with the boys, to crank up the girls and tone down the guys.
“Teaching the girls to be aggressive is something that doesn’t come naturally, but the intensity definitely needs to be upped,” she said. “The guys are just the opposite. They need to work on patience. They like to force their shots when they do get them. A couple of shots go wide, and we lose opportunities.”
Despite their differing styles of play, the teams’ records are similar. The Lady Patriots are 1-8-1 (1-2 in District 6-II); the Patriots are 2-5-1 (1-2 in district).
The 2008-09 season has been a rebuilding year for Ellender. The boys lost seven seniors and the girls graduated five seniors from last year’s squads.
While the Patriots still have a core group who have been on the team since they were freshmen, nearly half the Lady Patriots roster are newcomers to the sport.
“For some of them, it’s their very first year to ever touch a soccer ball,” Guidry said. “Their athletes in other sports, so you know they have the commitment to do it, but I would say 40 percent of my girls team, it’s they’re first year playing organized soccer.”
Seniors Megan Cressoine, Deanna Bonvillian, Leah Lebouef and Maria Silva have been instrumental in bringing the younger players along.
While the girls have become a tight-knit group, the lack of hustle among a majority of the team has been disheartening for the coach.
“Their ability to get to the ball first, outwork our opponent, that’s what they need to learn,” Guidry noted. “Aggressiveness isn’t something you can teach. It just has to be there. It’s kind of hard dealing with that, especially this year because I’m used to dealing with that.”
Cressoine, an All-District First Team selection last year, gave Guidry nightmares when she joined the Patriots football team last season as their kicker
“I wasn’t thrilled at first because Lord knows, she being the heart and soul of my team, the last thing I wanted was for her to get tackled and break something,” Guidry said. “But she came through, did fine in football, moved over to soccer and is still kicking field goals. We’re definitely going to be lost without her defensive skills next year.”
Led by senior goalkeeper Carl Verdin and juniors Jorge Collazo and Briany Juarez, the Patriots have a complete package of offense and defense skill, according to Guidry.
She would like to see them dribble the ball down the field more and take their time setting up shots as they did in a 9-2 win over Helen Cox High School last Tuesday.
“Communication is what they need to work on,” she said. “Which is surprising since they play together behind the fields in Annuziata (Catholic Church) on a daily basis. In the afternoons, you can find them at the airbase. They’re pretty much a little band of brothers. They do their own thing.”
Guidry became the boys’ soccer team coach after former coach Matthew Dardar moved over to the baseball team.
The easy rapport between Guidry and her players indicates they have had a seamless transition to her as their coach.
“Technically, I’ve been coaching them for years,” she said. “We (Ellender) only have one field, so we (both teams) practice together no matter what. We’re usually running drills or scrimmaging each other on a daily basis anyway. So there’s probably no difference. They respect me as their coach, and I’m impressed that they enjoy having me as their coach.”
Hurricane Gustav did have an impact on the coach and the boys team this season when it destroyed the Ellender locker room in September.
“The boys’ uniforms got damaged, so I had to cut down the team because we don’t have enough funds to purchase new uniforms,” Guidry said. “Instead of the normal 25 guys I would have kept, I had to cut it down to 17 because of the uniform issue.”
With no recreational soccer program in East Houma to develop young talent, finding quality players has always been a problem for Ellender soccer coaches.
Still, Guidry moves forward, molding her inexperienced teams to battle against tough competition, especially district rival Vandebilt, which they travel to play on Tuesday.
“Trying to bring that skill level up when there’s not a rec center program on this side of town is very hard to do,” she said.
“Most of the premier players who play in rec soccer go to Vandebilt or Terrebonne. So over here, it’s a bit more difficult, but I have some good players,” Guidry added. “Trying to put them all together is the biggest challenge.”
Patriots soccer coach Beth Guidry (fourth from left) huddles up her team before the start of the game against Morgan City on Jan. 2. * Photo by KEYON K. JEFF
