Nearly 50 Camp Verde Middle School boys and girls have come out for soccer at the practice fields at Butler Park.
The 30 girls and 17 boys play a 12-game Quad City League schedule over the next six weeks not just to build on the girls’ one-loss season — the most successful for head coach Pat Allen in his decade leading the team — but to help new boys head coach Mike Showers produce talent worthy of Camp Verde High School and its fall soccer schedule.
“We’re working in an extra game,” Showers said of a possible matchup Wednesday, April 15, at the Oak Creek School in Cornville. “The kids that don’t play that much, I can play them the whole game and give them that experience they might not see a whole lot in the season. You don’t want to lose them in middle school.”
One of the few positions Showers has settled on for the Cowboys’ home opener Tuesday, March 24, against Glassford Hill Middle School, is goalkeeper, where seventh-graders Manuel Interiano and Kelton O’Grady will split time.
“We may have more actually play goalie,” Showers said, “But they may be the only two we really use.”
Showers, a Town of Camp Verde employee and 10-year veteran coach of 10- to 12-year-old American Youth Soccer Organization teams, added he has the right side of his formation set.
“Striker, center midfielder, stopper, sweeper — the people that are there, they’re quality players,” Showers said. “So, it’s filling out, then, all the edges — who my wing’s going to be, who the rest of my midfield and my left side defender are going to be.”
Those, along with team captains, will be decided by he and first-year assistant coach Maddy Showers from eighth-graders Tyree Leonard, Ephraim Navarro and Brandon Ruiz. New players Bryan Caballero, Anthony Garcia, John Medina, Marlon Menjivar, Domanic Renik and Luis Venegas will also be in the mix, joining seventh-graders Gustavo Davila, Juan Guzman, Jordon Littlefield, Steven Moore and Christian Salas.
“Defense is interesting right now,” Showers said. “It’s not what we’re necessarily solid on. We’re very, very light on eighth-graders.”
Allen, the long-time Camp Verde High School head girls soccer coach, has nine more eighth-graders and 13 more overall, than Showers coming off a one-loss season — the best Allen can recall in his 10 years as CVMS girls head coach.
“We actually had to limit it when 40 [girls] showed up,” he said.
Allen projects seventh-grader Destiny Dowdle to start in goal. Eighth-graders Kynlee Gillespie, Lizbet Gutierrez, Hailey Needham and Lupe Orta join seventh-graders Tanna Decker and Kaycee Perez to lead a speedy, seasoned Cowboys formation.
“We only have one girl who hasn’t played before,” Allen said, “which is unusual for middle school.”
For hotos and the teams’ full schedules, please see the Wednesday, March 18, issue of the Camp Verde Journal.
