The Owls soccer program is ready for another season, as the Seymour boys’ and girls’ teams get ready to begin their 2024 campaign.

The boys host Jasper tomorrow at the Seymour Soccer Complex at 2 p.m.

Seymour boys’ head coach Matthew Dennis spoke about the improvement of the team throughout the summer.

“We’ve shown a lot of growth, we have 14 new players that were not on the roster last year, with 11 of those being freshmen,” Dennis said. “It’s been good teaching the boys how we want them to play the game. We have returning guys who will be playing different spots and more minutes, and they have really taken to those roles.”

The Owls have eight seniors in 2024: Lance Hubbard, Donovan Delgadillo, Kayden Cox, Juan Fernandez, Myles Chandler, Jake Loebker, David Bartolome and Thai Daraswad.

Coach Dennis chose four captains instead of three but mentioned that all 8 of the seniors had a case for the position.

“Player led teams go farther than coach led teams and we’ve spoken quite a bit about that,” Dennis said. “These guys have a lot of leadership capabilities, whether they do or do not have an armband on they will still be the leaders of this team. If they can hold each other accountable during practices, workouts, training sessions, they will do some great things.”

Seniors Loebker and Daraswad spoke about their summer, that was filled with practices and scrimmages.

“We got a lot of work in this summer as a team, more than usual I would say,” Loebker said. “We had a lot of scrimmages as well, allowing us to bond as a team and see some lineups and see what things look like on the field.”

“Overall, the summer practices were really productive, and everyone’s skill developed over the summer,” Daraswad said. “I’m excited for the upcoming season. I’m hoping we can be successful and win a lot of games. I have a lot of faith in this team.”

Defense is something the Owls will be able to rely on, especially early in the season.

“Last year, in our first three matches we allowed one goal and had a loss and two ties,” Dennis said. “We might not be scoring early in the season, but we will work hard, and we will have some speed. I’m looking for us to score some more goals this season.”

Loebker and Daraswad gave their opinion on some keys for a successful season.

“I think it will be a lot about our leadership,” Loebker said. I also think we must keep our heads up and keep working hard during the tough parts of the season.”

“We’re just going to have to play our game and play fast,” Daraswad said. “Use what Coach (Dennis) has taught us. Do not let other teams get in our way.”

The team is usually in good spirits, enjoying their practices and being around each other. Loebker and Daraswad were asked about the culture of the Seymour soccer program.

“I’ve known these players and have been playing with these guys for quite some time now,’ Loebker said. “Playing with Coach (Dennis) since I was 8, so we’ve all grown together and have a good sense of familiarity with each other.”

“That’s exactly what the culture is here, everyone is friends and it’s a unique bond out here,” Daraswad said. “It’s a soccer family, and we all get along, not any issues with that aspect at all.”

The Lady Owls will have to wait two more days before they take the field.

Seymour girls’ head coach Greg Musser is still preaching the same message about hard work to his team.

“One of our catalysts is trying to be the hardest working team out there,” Musser said. “We go by the words of ‘Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard’.”

“We want to be the hardest working team out there as the x’s and o’s start to come together,” he said.

The ladies open their season with a road game to Salem on Monday for a matchup with the Lions at 5:30 p.m. Musser is hoping that the girls can play together.

“I hope we can gel together and have a chance to move well against a different team,” Musser said. “We will try to get some new looks and see if we can implement some things. Our new personnel will have a chance to play, for us to see if we need to run the same scheme as last season or modify it to fit what is best for our team. I’m also hoping to see what we can do in certain situations.”

The coach has been impressed with some of the things he’s seen over the summer.

“During the summer we had kids who come and go, bouncing around at times from thing to thing. But we had a good nucleus of athletes showing up each time,” Musser said. “I’ve seen a lot of growth out of that core group. Girls are also setting the tone out there. I think we are itching to hit someone other than ourselves.”

Seniors Rochiely Gibson and Gabby Guzman both believe their team got better over the summer.

“I think our communication and our skill has improved a lot,” Gibson said. “I feel as a team we’ve gotten stronger and faster. We focused a lot on our footwork and endurance, and I think it’s helped us out a lot.”

“I feel like we’ve really improved our relationships with one another and learning to get along as teammates,” Guzman said.

Both girls spoke about their upcoming senior season. Guzman is excited for the postseason tournament.

“The tournament is what I look forward to most,” she said. “I look forward to it every year and it’s a very good team bonding experience.”

“I’m excited and hoping to win a lot of games,” Gibson said. “I’m also looking forward to spending it with this team and continuing to grow together this season. I’m also excited for senior night to see us all play.”

Both seniors believe in working as a team. They spoke on their favorite part of being on this soccer team.

“They’re all friendly and kind. As well as working on things they can improve on,” Gibson said. “They work hard and never quit and continue to play even when they are tired.”

“We’ve all grown together,” Guzman said. “I’ve known most of these girls since the beginning of high school. We’ve all grown together maturity wise and personality wise.”

Both athletes then discussed what they believe to be the strength of the soccer team in 2024.

“I think the fact that we don’t beat ourselves up after losses,” Guzman said. “We always find ways to come back after losses and find a way to be better.”

“I think we all work as a team, all put in the work together,” Gibson said. “We don’t get brought down by the score, bring each other up and continue to encourage one another.”

The Lady Owls have 9 seniors in 2024: Brylee Ramsey, Gabby Guzman, Rochiely Gibson, Emma Braman, Mia Sullivan, Mia Villegas, Emma Woodard, Ali Dominguez-Javier, and Juana Juan.

Spirits are certainly running high in Seymour for the upcoming soccer season.