Preparation for the fall sports season is underway after Allen Community College teams kicked off the preseason with their first practice over the weekend.
With only 17 players on the roster, the Allen women’s soccer team is taking extra precautions in the first week of practice as the Red Devils hope to get in as much work as they can while mitigating the effects of temperatures well into the 90s.
“We have a smaller squad this year, so that means they’re going to have to not go as hard as we’re used to in the preseason,” Coach Marcos Shimizu said. “We have enough talent to have a great season and get to the playoffs one more time.”
Shimizu led the Red Devils through their first practice Monday morning. Although listed as interim head coach, Shimizu said coaching duties this season will be a team effort with he and men’s coach Gefte Blanc both leading the Red Devils this season.
“We’re co-head coaches and he brings a lot of experience,” Shimizu said. “He’s been here more than nine years and that’s something I would lack as a first-year head coach. We’ve been able to work together great, and we’re friends off the field as well.”
Shimizu did not hesitate to declare this season as a rebuilding year for the Red Devils. They graduated 10 of 23 players listed on last season’s roster and head into this season with a total of 17 players. Lacking numbers leaves Shimizu and company walking a tightrope of keeping the Red Devils in shape enough to manage potentially 90 minutes on the pitch while also keeping them healthy enough to have multiple reserves on hand.
“We’re going to have a couple of challenges because of lack of depth,” Shimizu said. “If we have an important player go down, we’re not going to be able to substitute her with the same level of player. It’s a challenge, but if we do a good job in the preseason then we will have enough fitness as well as tactical and technical skills to do a good job.”
Although young and sparse, the Red Devils are not lacking for talent. Allen returns All-Jayhawk Conference second team selection wing Priya Stanger, as well as all-conference honorable mention center midfielder Maria Diez Gomes-Pompa. Although loaded with underclassmen, Coach Shimizu said Allen is still on track with where they were in preparations at this time last season.
“We’re not as behind as people think we are, but it is, more or less, a rebuilding year,” Shimizu said. “We’re going to surprise people. We’re going to stay hungry and compete every game.”
For Shimizu and the rest of the Red Devils’ coaching staff and players, a rebuilding year is not a bad thing. In fact, thanks to their core of returning players and young, raw athletes, Allen may surprise more than a few teams. The rebuild also allows coaches to play mad scientist with the roster and draw out talents the players never realized they had.
“We don’t have as much pressure as we had in previous years, and that is where it gets fun,” Shimizu said. “Some players are returners and expecting to work harder than we are, which can be frustrating, but for freshmen it’s a more proper transition. We’re having fun and we’re doing a lot of team bonding so we can have that kind of chemistry on and off of the field.”
The Red Devils will spend the next eight days preparing for their first exhibition of the season Aug. 12 against Coffeyville. While some coaches are tempted to treat the preseason like how college students treat the last days before the final, Shimizu said the Red Devils will have a more patient approach in the coming days.
“We’re trying to work around the sun, but the season is going to start when it’s still hot,” Shimizu said. “We’re doing later practices so we can ease them into it while also understanding the heat is going to be a factor at least until the end of this month and the beginning of next month.”
