Carter Wait says he has had a lot of good memories playing soccer for the Seymour Owls.
“I’ll remember the experiences with my senior buddies and stuff. It’s been fun. Every year, we’ve improved,” he said.
He said the junior varsity team went 5-4 his freshman year, then 8-2 his sophomore season.
Last season, he helped the Owls win the Hoosier Hills Conference title, and this season, the team is having another excellent season.
Wait began playing soccer at age 4.
“My older brother, Kory, played soccer, so I grew up watching his games,” Wait said. “That’s kind of how I got involved in soccer, and I’ve been playing it ever since.”
Carter said he had a good experience playing club ball with the Seymour Cyclones.
“I’ve mainly played defense (in high school),” he said. “The first years, I played JV, and I played center back, then I moved to varsity my junior year, and I played mainly outside mid. This year, I’ve played outside back and as a defensive-center mid. That’s been kind of new to me the past couple games.”
In games, Wait has a lot of responsibilities.
“(I) mainly to cut off the passing lanes to their striker because a lot of teams play through their striker, so my job is to cut off that ball and win the ball at midfield,” Wait said. “I like (being physical). It makes it fun. I usually play the same physicality every game. If the ref calls it, then I’ll back off a little bit.”
There are six seniors on the 2017 team.
“All of us basically grew up together, probably since we were 10 years old, playing on the (Cyclones) together, so it’s been really cool to go through the majority of our soccer career,” Wait said. “We’ve been dreaming of playing soccer together our senior year. I started playing Cyclones when I was 8 and played with them until my freshman year when I played in high school. I think all of us seniors are good leaders on the field.”
Wait said the experience of playing with the Cyclones definitely helped him become a better high school player.
“Rec was fun, but Cyclones took you to the next level playing soccer,” he said. “You had more tactics and a setup formation that you played. The last two years of Cyclones, (Owls head coach Matt) Dennis coached us, so he kind of introduced him to us and us to him both ways, so that kind of established a relationship and chemistry before we even got to the high school, so I think that’s really helped us the last year or two.”
In games, the Owls aren’t afraid to battle adversities.
“In soccer, it is really important that there is problem-solving on the field because coach obviously in every situation, he can’t just scream out what he wants you to hear or what you need to do,” Wait said. “You need to be able to problem solve and react to what’s happening very quickly. I like that part of soccer where you think a lot. Communication is huge.”
Wait is looking for a strong showing in the sectional.
“A lot of the teams we play in conference are in the sectional, like Floyd Central, Jeff and New Albany,” Wait said. “We’re really hoping to get another chance at New Albany.
“Other than that, it’s just playing our game every time. A lot of times, you might not come out and do what it takes to beat those teams. Then we kind of shy away from what we practice on, our practice patterns and stuff, so we just need to come out and play our style, and I think we’ll have success.”
Wait said winning the conference in 2016 was a big deal.
“Winning conference last year was pretty awesome,” he said. “It was cool. My brother (Kory) played soccer, and they had tied conference. It was cool to win conference outright. That was cool to do for the first time in school history.
“I kind of compare myself to my brother’s team. They never beat Columbus East in the regular season, so it was kind of cool to come in and beat Columbus East and bring home the O Cup.”
[sc:pullout-title pullout-title=”Wait file” ][sc:pullout-text-begin]
Name: Carter Wait
School: Seymour High School
Parents: David Wait, Lori Wait
Siblings: Kory, Quinton
Sport: Soccer, four years
Athletic highlights: Junior varsity most improved, Hoosier Hills Conference champions, O Cup winners.
Organization: Band
Plans after high school: Attend Purdue University
Favorite food: Venison
Favorite musician: Jason Aldean
Favorite movie: “Saving Private Ryan”
Favorite team: Purdue
[sc:pullout-text-end]
