By Dan Truttschel
Sports Correspondent
Rene Perez has waited his turn to take over a varsity soccer program.
And now that time has arrived.
Perez, a longtime Big Foot JV girls coach, is the new head coach this spring, as he replaces Annie Isham.
He couldn’t be any more excited to get going.
“I was excited when I officially got the position,” Perez said. “I want to thank coach Isham for recommending me for the position. I learned a lot from assisting (her) and (boys varsity coach) Keith Blakeman over the years. I felt ready to become a varsity coach.
“Over the past few seasons, with low numbers for the girls, Annie let me do some varsity coaching during practices. That made me sure of myself that I could handle the position.”
Perez enters 2017 knowing he has a lot of talent to replace from last year’s squad that finished 12-4 overall and a perfect 8-0 in the Rock Valley Conference.
Nine seniors departed from that squad, so there are some big shoes to fill, he said.
“We lost talent, leadership and chemistry,” Perez said. “It’s always tough replacing that number of players at once.
“This year, we will be a young team, having five freshmen on the roster. I think, maybe at the beginning of the season, we may be a little slow out of the gates, but as we continue to put games under our belts, I see us playing some great soccer.”
And that’s been the message so far, Perez said, to be patient.
“That’s what I’ve been telling them, ‘Take it one game at a time,’” he said.
“I see us still fighting to defend our conference title. I think teams will overlook us (because) of all the players we lost from last year. The games are played and won on the field, not on paper.”
Perez said he will turn to the senior trio of Maddie Palmer (midfield-defender), Enna Peterson (forward-goalie) and Heidi Pape (defend) for leadership throughout the season.
All three will play an important role, he said.
“They are going to have to show a lot of leadership throughout the season,” Perez said. “They are going to have to lead by actions as much as words.”
The rest of the roster includes senior Kelly Bobek (forward); juniors Mallory Beyers (midfielder), Sara Canche (forward-midfielder), Sonja Ericson (forward), Madison Pajeau (defender), Meredith Heckert (forward) and Penny Brooks (midfielder-forward); sophomores Kristin Colquhoun (midfielder), abby Peterson (midfielder-forward) and Annika Paper (forward); and
Freshmen Taylor Barkes (defender), Abby Von de Bogert (defender), Hannah Palmer (forward-midfielder), Maya Torrez (midfielder) and Olivia Peterson (defender).
Looking to improve
Through the first couple weeks of practice, Perez sees a defensive-minded team, which should be a strength.
“How I envision us to play, the outside wings will be a huge part of our game,” he said. “We have speed out there, and we need to use it as often as possible. Last year, that was also a big key to how successful we were.”
Offensively, Perez said he wants his team to be able to handle pressure from the opposition, which means the Chiefs must possess the ball and attack with a purpose, he said.
“We have been training more on movement off the ball and recognizing when to make runs off the ball,” he said. That will be a big key to our success on winning games.”
As far as the RVC, Perez, who will be assisted by JV coach Jeanne Case, said he expects both McFarland and Evansville to be among the teams to watch.
Big Foot opened play last Thursday against visiting Palmyra-Eagle. The Chiefs were set to begin RVC action Monday at East Troy.
“We are just ready to play in our first game and see where we need to show improvement,” Perez said.
