Nearly 100 Try Out For Staples Soccer
There are 1900 students at Staples High School. 97 showed up on the 1st day of tryouts today. That’s more than 5 percent of the student body — and more than 10 percent of all those eligible to play (males).
There were 60 varsity and reserve candidates (10th through 12th grade), and 37 freshmen.
The upperclass tryouts began with a pair of 840s on Loeffler Field, then moved to Wakeman for team play. Chris O’Dell ran his frosh session on an adjacent field.
This year — for the first time ever — tryouts began on the 1st day of school. The reason: The CIAC moved the start date of fall sports up by 2 days, while Westport schools opened a full week and a half before Labor Day.
“It was a challenge,” admits head coach Dan Woog. “We worried that our guys might be unfocused, tired, or too revved up — whatever. But they know we’ve got a big season ahead, and not a lot of time to prepare. They know nearly every top FCIAC team is returning more starters than we are. They know Staples soccer has very high standards.
“It’s a good group, with great senior leaders. If the players are half as excited as the coaches, then we’re in pretty good shape.”
Loeffler Field is ready for another exciting season.
