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Young coaches looking to compete

Posted on September 10, 2009September 10, 2009 by Staff

By Beth Mechum
Staff Writer

This season’s local men’s high school soccer programs bring long-standing tradition and young blood to what should be a competitive season.

Chapel Hill High School has local soccer legend Ron Benson at the helm, while Carrboro High School and East Chapel Hill have two young guns ready to make a name for themselves in a county rich with soccer tradition.

Benson has coached soccer for more than 30 years, was named U.S. Southeastern Regional coach of the year in 2000, N.C. men’s coach of the year in 2000 and N.C. women’s coach of the year in 1995.

East Coach Zach Haines is taking the reigns as head coach for the first time this year. He served last year as an assistant with the Wildcats.

Haines, from Winston-Salem, holds the record for career goals in North Carolina 3A high school soccer with 149. His career at UNC was cut short due to injury in 2006, and after finishing school in the summer of 2008 he came to East.

Haines said he likes being in control of all facets of the team this year and expects his team to be better for it.

“I’m building a more competitive environment that guys can really come away from every practice and say that they have gotten better,” Haines said. “They’re enjoying soccer and really feel like they are part of everything.”

James Mundia, in his second year as head coach of the Carrboro Jaguars, said he and Haines are good friends. Mundia got into coaching soccer at the most basic level, coaching 5- and 6-year-olds when he was a teenager, and he’s worked his way up through the coaching ranks quickly.

Each coach is expecting plenty of wins this season.

Carrboro High
Mundia hates the term “rebuilding.” He hates it even more when people use it to refer to his team.

“The term ‘rebuilding year’ is such a four-letter word,” he said. “I will never, ever accept that we are going to take a year to rebuild. That doesn’t make sense to me.”

Mundia said that though the team lost a lot of good players, there are still a lot left, and he expects to have a chance to win every game.

The Jaguars have a 2-3 record so far, but Mundia points out he frontloaded their schedule with games against good local teams on purpose.

“We like to play local teams, because it’s fun for the kids and it’s a good environment. But the local teams are very good, so we have to deal with that,” he said.

He said this week marks the turning point for his team, as preseason is over and conference play begins full force.

Players to watch: Sean Scott is the type of guy who doesn’t need to lead with encouraging words; he lets his play on the field speak for him. Also, look for sophomore Sam Hickey to make a name for himself this year.

Players they’ll miss: Robert Kenny scored 24 goals last year, so others will need to step up and find the net.

Expectations: Carrboro got to the state playoffs last year, and Mundia wants the same this year. But this time, expect the Jaguars to win one.

East Chapel Hill High
After a tough loss to the No. 3 team in the state, Green Hope, the Wildcats have improved every week, but are off to a 2-3 start. Haines said that record might be deceiving because it was against some of the stiffest competition in the state.

“Obviously by the record, it doesn’t sound outstanding. But [in] those three losses, we actually played very well and competed, and maybe deserved a better result than we got,” he said. “The bottom line is that we competed, and we said we can compete with anyone.”

Haines also said the team is more talent-oriented this year as opposed to last, when they relied on grinding games out. He’s expecting more wins once conference play starts, and he thinks the team can compete for a conference championship.

Players to watch: Blake Vickers on defense, Chris Jaques at forward and Cristo Briceno at forward. All are expected to step up as leaders this year.

Players missing: Antony Megaro was a leader both on and off the field.

Expectations: A conference title is in sight, but knocking off powerhouse Durham Jordan will be no easy task.

Chapel Hill High
Benson said this year’s team has started off a lot like last year’s – slow. But just like last year, he expects the team to get stronger as the year progresses.

“I think this year we have a lot of potential, and we’ve been playing a lot of tough teams so far,” he said. “I think our best soccer is ahead of us.”

The Wildcats are still working on getting their formation set and determining who should play where; but once conference play gets into action, consistency will be key.
So far the team has a 3-4 rec-cord, and Benson said most of those losses have been due to the team’s inability to finish off plays in the net. Shooting has been a high priority in practices, and the team is improving.

Players to watch: Chipper Root has already made a name for himself in the short season, and he’ll need to continue to stay strong for Chapel Hill to compete. Also, Alex Steiner and Michael Brandewie will be key players.

Expectations: Chapel Hill will need to get better quickly to compete with Cardinal Gibbons, the toast of the Carolina 6 Conference.

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