STARKVILLE — Six girls soccer teams from across Mississippi gathered at the Starkville Sportsplex on Saturday for three rounds of preseason friendlies ahead of the MAIS girls’ soccer season.
Starkville Academy hosted the event, organized by head coach Chris Doss, and took on three of its five visitors in the process. East Rankin Academy, Kirk Academy, Northpoint Academy and Pillow Academy made the trip to Starkville, as did Laurel Homeschool.
“I think any time you get them playing it’s good,” Doss said, “because the only way you can grow and learn is to play the game. That’s why we’ve played friendlies against Starkville High and Homeschool. These are all chances to get kids who may not get a lot of chances throughout the season on the field. And we’re not all chasing wins, we’re chasing game experience and opportunities to just play.”
With the season starting in just a few days, the teams are looking to get their final test runs in before the games mean something. Laurel head coach Bob Cranford sees it as an opportunity to prepare and hone tactics as well as have some fun.
“It gets you ready to work out mistakes you’re seeing, polish up formations, and get players playing time before it really counts,” Cranford said. “That’s what we take advantage of with these preseason matchups. We love soccer and any opportunity we can get to put these girls on the field we’ll do it.”
The event was made possible by Starkville Parks and Recreation and Doug Heflin, director of operations, as well as Emanuel “Many” Pintican, a longtime referee in the area and certified U.S. Soccer referee assignor. While renovations continued at the facilities, there were still enough fields painted and ready for the weekend, including the new turf field.
Each team got a chance to try out the turf at the sportsplex, a new experience for some and preparation for the season ahead for others. The surface is more slick than grass fields, allowing the ball to travel faster and giving an advantage to possession based teams. One advantage however is its durability, and while grass fields can get torn up from playing after it rains, turf fields allow teams to play and practice without that danger. Its availability will be a benefit for both football and soccer teams in the area.
The experience is valuable considering the expansion of turf fields at schools in the state, and teams need to be prepared with both equipment and playing style to make necessary adjustments. This weekend each team had the opportunity to do just that.
“It’s harder to play the ball (on turf), and the game goes a lot quicker,” Pillow Academy head coach Mary Claire Brock said. “We’re going to play a lot of games on turf this year so I thought this would be a good opportunity, as well as to play some teams that aren’t in our conference to get some touches in and get ready for the season.”
The MAIS Girls’ Soccer season officially starts this week. Starkville Academy’s first game will be a road game at Jackson Academy on Tuesday.
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