Back on the pitch

MOSES LAKE – The Moses Lake Christian Academy/Covenant Christian School will field a boys soccer team this fall, returning to the pitch after a long hiatus.

The team will be coached by Shaq Ledezma, who is also an assistant coach with the MLCA/CCS basketball squad.

“I think it's about six years that we’ve been absent from the league, but they decided to finally bring it back this year,” Ledezma said.

Ledezma brings a life-long appreciation for soccer to his new role as head coach; this will be the first time he’s served as soccer head coach.

“I started coaching for MLCA basketball last year,” Ledezma said. “I grew up playing soccer, and it’s a sport I’m passionate about. When I heard that they were going to bring it back I decided ‘Hey man, that’s for me.’”

The Lions began workouts and practices three weeks ago for the upcoming fall season, allowing the team to get used to working with each other. Ledezma said that the team is mostly composed of eighth graders and freshmen, with only one upperclassman.

“I feel like they’ve gained a lot of character,” Ledezma said. “A lot of them are new to soccer, so just teaching them the fundamentals and all that, I feel like they’re picking up on that quite a bit. Also getting a lot of good conditioning, and just learning to come together as a team and play together.”

Bonding as a team will go a long way, especially for a young team.

“This is my first year of playing soccer,” Michael Podolyan said, the team’s lone senior. “I used to play basketball, so this is the first time that I’ve been the leader – I’d been a junior and had seniors ahead of me – so I just have to take what they showed me and how they treated me in different situations.”

Podolyan, the team’s captain, also plays baseball along with basketball and serves as president of MLCA’s Administrative Student Body program.

“Trying something new,” Podolyan said of why he decided to play soccer. “It’s my last year of high school, I might as well do everything I can before I become an adult. Might as well try it, right?”

The senior’s leadership has shown at practices, setting the example with finishing drills and assisting younger players.

“Their willingness to push themselves hard,” Ledezma said of what had stood out about his team. “We have a lot of conditioning, a lot of training days where it’s a lot of running and sprinting, and they finish it. They give their max effort, and that’s all a coach could ask for.

“I like to see the more positive side of things, just the fact that it’s a good start to build something and build a program,” Ledezma said of the young age of his team. “Get these kids playing together for the next four or five years.”

Ian Bivona may be reached at ibivona@columbiabasinherald.com.

Schedule

Sept. 22 - vs Riverside Christian - 5:30 p.m.

Sept. 26 - @ Upper Columbia Academy - 4:30 p.m.

Sept. 28 - vs Prescott - 5:30 p.m.

Oct. 1 - @ St. Georges - TBA

Oct. 6 - @ Riverside Christian - 4 p.m.

Oct. 25 - vs Prescott - 4 p.m.