by Isabella Wemes

Junior varsity girls’ soccer coach Phoebe Bauer Watson meets with the junior varsity athletes to explain what drill they will do first. “We are sharpening our dribbling skills and one-on-ones,” said Watson. 

To Watson, the athletes have worked hard and put in much effort. 

“We have improved on defending, dribbling, and passing with each other to make a shot.”   

From these drills at practice, the athletes feel they have improved at their positions.

 Freshman Ivy Romine-Wykoff said, “The drills have helped me find my strengths, which are blocking somebody and passing.” Romine-Wykoff plays left defense.

Sophomore Zoey Johnson plays full back and center midfield. She, too, thinks that the drills have helped her improve.  “The drills are fun and have helped me better my ball control and have a good pace.”  

With the efforts of the athletes working together and becoming better at their positions, comes with how they stay fit during the off-season.

Romine-Wykoff stayed fit by doing basic core training, running on the treadmill, and weight training. Johnson stayed fit by playing soccer year-round. 

With this, the athletes feel like the season is going well, even though they haven’t won a game yet.

“I think the team has been hard-working, and the season will go up from where it’s at,” said Romine-Wykoff.

“I think we’re doing pretty good and are on track to do sectionals,” said Johnson.

The athletes’ goals also play a big part in getting them to where they are or want to be. 

“I’d like to improve on basic skills, build up my endurance, and play different positions on the field,” said Romine-Wykoff.

“I want to score a goal on varsity,” said Johnson. 

Overall the team thinks they are doing well. Since the end of the season is approaching they are trying their hardest to win a match.

The varsity Red Devils begin sectional play next week.

by Sarah Jacobs

After warming up, the girls’ soccer players are split into teams to play a game of keep away. They practice their passes during a heated game. Head coach Julie Deuser advises the girls as they play.

“I think the soccer department is really going in the right direction,” said senior Jovie Golko as she reflected on her years playing soccer at JHS. She cited the new coach as a key factor as to why she is feeling optimistic about the current season. 

Deuser has a history with coaching soccer, having coached and played during her college years.

“I want to have a winning season and build the team back up,” Deuser said. She believes the team has a strong core group who are familiar with one another.

Sophomore Zoe Johnson cited the team’s positive attitude as a key strength. “I think our defense is our strongest point,” said defensive player Golko. 

Strong as the team may be, it’s not perfect. “We really need more girls to come out and play,” Deuser said. 

Golko and Johnson believe the team’s ability to get control of the ball is its greatest weakness. If they can’t take control of the ball, it becomes harder to get scoring opportunities.

Training drills help improve these skills, though. The team trains in a variety of ways during the off season. The entire team does conditioning, but individual players have more variety in their routine. Johnson and Golko play indoor soccer separate from the school. Junior Aubrey Cummings does wrestling.

Johnson, Golko, and Cummings said their goal for the team this season is to win sectionals. With a unified goal in mind, the team, joined by their new coach, is working hard this season to achieve that win.

Soccer sectionals begin next week.

story by Carlos Molina

Many sports have their fair share of siblings playing side-by-side.

From tennis stars Serena and Venus Williams, to football’s Eli and Peyton Manning, playing with (or against) a sibling can help create a chemistry (or an advantage) between the two.

Jeffersonville High School’s Kurtis and Konner Kimmel fit that same category — the brothers both play Varsity soccer together for the JHS soccer team.

Growing up, Konner and Kurtis played on the same club soccer team (Javanon Soccer Club) for years. Since then, they’ve teamed up a couple of times on a 3-on-3 indoor team at Mockingbird Valley in Louisville, but have never played in anything more than recreational soccer together.

Despite this season being the first time the duo has shared a team on an organized squad, they have a pretty good idea of each other’s chemistry.

“He knows how I play and I know how he plays,” Kurtis said. “ I can always count on him to know what run I’m making and get me the ball.”

Konner, a freshman, agreed with his older brother.

“I am excited about playing with my brother because it is the first time I have gotten to play on the same team as him,” Konner said

With this being Kurtis’ last year as a decorated Red Devil footballer, Konner will have big shoes to fit. As a freshman, though, he is already showing big promise, as he is one of just two starting freshmen on this years Varsity team.

Boys soccer head coach Carson Webb has been there every step of the way with the Kimmel brothers, and sees the link between the two.

“Konner’s very competitive. He’s got his own drive,” Webb said. “They’re three years apart, but they know what they’re doing. Being on a high school team, they know where each other are going to be, (which) makes it neat to watch from the sideline.”

Despite being the older brother, Kurtis sees the potential in Konner’s game, but still claims to be the top dog in the family.

“Konner’s technique is exceptional for his age,” Kurtis said. “I think it’ll take some time before he develops vision and decision-making that I have.”

Being a senior, the role of team captain was awarded to Kurtis. A four-year starter, his involvement and dedication led to the honor.

For Konner, his career is just starting to take shape, and will continue even after his brother graduates.

“I think (Konner) will miss his brother like anyone else, but I also think he’ll step up and it’ll be good for him to be his own person instead of living under Kurtis’ shadow,” Webb said.

As the season comes to an end, so is Kurtis’ high school soccer career. With his departure, also comes Konner’s era to lead the team.

“I have always looked up go my brother,” Konner said. “Watching him play, I would like to learn how to be a team leader and improve the players around me.”

story by Braxton Troutman

Coming off a 2-1 heartbreaking loss in double overtime against Floyd Central in last year’s Sectional championship, the boys soccer team is looking to redeem themselves this season.

After the loss of six seniors to graduation, the 2017-18 squad is looking to move forward with a bright, young group of players. Top scorers of team include junior Jacob Clemons, Senior Ben Walter,and junior Leonel Esparza.

“I feel like we’re better than we were last year,” said senior Khaleb Khan. “Not saying we were bad last year, we’re just better this year. Things are looking good from here on. I think we’ll be successful, (win) titles.”

With victories against Atherton (KY) and North Harrison, in addition to an impressive 7-0 win against Christian Academy of Indiana, the season kicked off as a promising one for the Red Devils. Early losses, however, against defending state champs Evansville Memorial, and conference foe Seymour, have changed the team’s current morale. A “tie” game against conference foes Floyd Central ended with a power outage at the 26’ of the first half.

The team sits at 5-2-2 at time of press. With a tough schedule this year, they will have to face conference champions Seymour and will look to beat out Floyd Central for their Sectional crown.

The Jeffersonville girls soccer team is hungry for a comeback this year. With a record of 2-10-2 for the 2016-17 season, coach Jason Crane is looking for redemption.

“We always plan on improving our first touch and passing,” said Crane. “This year the extra improvement would be to gain some Red Devil pride and to get the job done.”

Junior Kylee Luce traveled to Spain over the summer with her club soccer team to participate in the Costa Blanca Cup. Luce thinks fans will be surprised with how much better the Devils have gotten this season.

“A lot of people think we are not a competitive team because of the results of the games, or our records from previous seasons. But if you actually come out to a game you would see how much we are improving and how much faster we play,” explained Luce. “We have a lot of potential this season.”

Freshman trio Olivia Jones, Kendra Salazar and Tiara Jones are who fans should look out for this year, according to Crane.

“Those three have some explosiveness about them, and within a year or two, could be hard to contain on the field,” said Crane.

Jones agreed with her coach’s opinion.

“I am most excited to see how much we grow as a team this season and these next four years,” Jones stated. “We have already shown so much progress since summer and I cannot wait to see how much we improve by the end of the season.”