Preparing for another kick at the post season-Carman Valley Leader

Preparing for another kick at the post season

Coach William Hoogerdijk is back for another season with the Kickers.

By Gene Still
Friday May 13, 2005

Carman Valley Leader — Snow and rain hasn’t been able to dampen the efforts of the Carman Kickers or their head coach William Hoogerdijk. Training camp practices got under way for the Kickers at the end of April. And they’ve continued their workouts despite some poor weather such as snow and occasionally heavy rains. But coach Hoogerdijk said they’ve approached their practice schedule just like they would the regular season – with a few rare exceptions, you always play the game, or in this case, practice. “If you’re playing in that type of weather – you may as well practice in that weather,” Hoogerdijk said. The number of soccer hopefuls who have come out for practices so far has been averaging from between 20 to 25 players trying out for the 2005 squad. That’s down as compared to 30 who competed to be part of the 2004 version of the Kickers. But while the numbers are smaller, the coach has been impressed by the level of overall talent. Returning veterans like high-scoring striker Lyle Vanveen, fullback-sweeper Tyson Kamminga along with versatile swing man, Kendall Ferris, are among the core returnees. They do have some question marks, such as in goal where Carman is going – at least as of press time – with Rich Vanderveen. Hoogerdijk noted that while Vanderveen is a talented athlete, he would prefer to find another regular goalie that would free-up Vanderveen to play his regular position of sweeper-striker. “Rich is a very good athlete and he just needs to get use to the position,” Hoogerdijk said. “But we would like to use him elsewhere and have him available as a back-up, but for now, this is how we’ll be going.” Another area of concern, is much like 2004 – keeping the opposition offense in check. “Defense hasn’t always been our strong point – not because of lack of effort – but in the past we’ve had to move guys (forwards) back there to play defense,” he said. However the coach has seen some encouraging signs during the pre-season. “We’ve been working on defensive coverage and technique,” he explained. “And all around, we’ve been executing pretty well, with the forwards coming back to help out.”