Soccer
Kristina Johnson
On January 5th through 7th, Hudson’s boys’ and girls’ soccer teams each competed in tournaments, and both had great success.
The boys traveled to Port Neches Grove for their tournament, and center attacking midfielder, Gerardo Rodriguez, describes the competition as, “Overall very competitive; the competition was a little tougher than usual because we played bigger schools.”
Challenging matches did not faze the team, as they won two games and tied one out of the three they played.
Rodriguez accredits their success to strong team dynamics and “a lot of grind.” “Everyone gets along and there is really good team chemistry,” he says. “We’ve had countless hours of after school practice since November, usually finishing around 5 or 5:30 PM, so around 3 hours of practice each day.”
The team will play in the Tatum Tournament January 12th and 13th and the Lufkin Showcase Tournament on the 19th through 21st.
As for the girls’ team, they competed in the Longview Tournament with six other schools from the East Texas area. They won one out of the three games they played, but the weather conditions, according to center midfielder and team captain, Grace Elliott, were “extremely cold and windy.”
In addition, “The competition was aggressive,” says Elliott, “but it was beneficial to our team so that we could see how other teams played and how we could do better.”
To prepare for the season, the girls’ soccer team has contributed many hours of hard work. “At the beginning of the year we worked on strength training and technical work,” Elliott says. “In November, we started afterschool practices so that we could begin working on footwork and shots.”
Throughout this preparation, the girls have built a strong connection that transfers onto the field. “Our team is actually like a family, and I think that is what really has helped with an overall better team dynamic,” Elliott adds.
Coming up, the girls’ team will compete in the Lufkin Showcase January 12th and 13th, and have individual matches planned leading up to district.
Both boys’ and girls’ soccer district competitions begin February 10th. Good luck soccer!
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