Royal soccer works on basics

ROYAL CITY — The Royal High School boys soccer team is going back to the basics to build up the team for a shot at the postseason.

Head coach Jens Jensen notes that this year’s team is a really young team. Between having underclassmen on varsity and COVID-19 holding a lot of experienced kids back from playing and practicing, Jensen said they are working on the basics of playing together as a team and refining their skills.

“The hope is that as we progress into the postseason, that we will continue to grow and continue to get better,” said Jensen.

Jensen said that he has a pretty even mix of talent on the team.

“When we score goals, they’re pretty spread around. Goals and assists are spread across quite a few players, we don’t have just one player scoring all of our goals,” said Jensen. “There are multiple players who can hurt you.”

Jensen said the goal is to make it to state and he doesn’t think that is an unrealistic goal for this team. He said, however, there will be some tough games they will have to play to get there.

He said that one of the biggest challenges he is facing is the impact of the pandemic on his players. He said it was surprising to him how much he could tell it affected their overall morale.

“....They’re searching to find their motivation, their purpose, their focus and their identity because COVID robbed them of all that,” Jensen said.

The team is 5-3-1 overall and 4-2 in the conference. They take on Wahluke High School at Wahluke on April 12.

Rebecca Pettingill may be reached at rpettingill@columbiabasinherald.com.