Manchester Middle School kicks it out of the park
By Lynn Warren CONTRIBUTING WRITER

The Manchester Middle School soccer team overcame the challenges of having a new coach and only two starters who returned to play from the previous year to win the 2006 Tournament Championship.

Manchester Middle School coach Ryan Marable's goals for the 2006 soccer season seemed reasonable: to win it all. Reasonable, that is, until you understand the circumstances.

The 25-year-old had never coached soccer before, and only two starters would return to the team, leaving a conglomeration of inexperienced sixth and seventh graders to fill out the roster.

But despite these obstacles, Marable blended 22 kids into a cohesive unit, which accomplished just what it had been challenged to do. The team won it all.

With a 12-1 record, Manchester Middle claimed the 2006 Tournament Championship, the only post season honors available at the middle school level.

"We set our goals high but stayed with the basics," says Marable. "The kids understood that only 11 [team members] could play at one time" and that those who came off of the bench (mostly sixth graders) filled a valuable role. "They played against our starters every day in practice and just made them better," explains Marable. "From top to bottom they all got along. There were no egos."

An early season loss to Carver Middle School proved to be more valuable than the wins that preceded it. "It proved we were not as good as we thought we were," Marable points out.

The loss also exposed weaknesses in the lineup. Dennis Halinon was moved to sweeper and "played great defense for the rest of the year." Even though he had never played the position, Michael Phelan was put in goal. "He reacted like he was born to play in goal," observes Marable. "He made some great athletic saves during the tournament." Noah Davis, who Marable says is the best player in the league, and Luis Rendon provided most of the offensive fire power. Seventh grader Carter Brown united the team as captain.

But it was players like Mat Ott who allowed the team to grow and prosper. Ott didn't start at the beginning of the season. He stepped in as a utility player in the middle of the campaign and filled in at a lot of different positions before making the starting lineup and "making key plays at the end of the year," Marable recalls. "The whole team seemed committed to doing everything I asked of them."

Halinon was also typical of the unsung heroes who made up this team. He didn't score the goals but did the little things that it takes to win. "It's not about having stars, but the need for 22 guys to make the team better," says Marable.

Manchester Middle loses Davis to high school next year, but has the leadership of Carter, the scoring of Rendon and the seasoning of a dozen sixth graders coming back, as well as a coach who will have doubled his own experience - a surefire formula for success.

"We should be good," concedes Marable.