åWith soccer season fastly approaching, I wanted to catch up with Coach “K” (Kleparek)  and ask him a few questions about the up-coming soccer season that lies ahead.
SR: With you taking second place this past year in the district which then allowed you to move on to win the district tournament, do you feel you can again accomplish that feat?
Coach K: That’s our goal, we’re takååing it  one game at a time and see what happens. I think we’ve got a pretty good group out  this time. I’m pretty excited but you never know what other teams are going to be able to do in a years time.
SR: After nine years you finally managed to beat  a team that is probably your biggest “rival,” Livingston Academy. Not only did you beat them for the first time during the regular season, you beat them again in the district tournament.
Do you feel like you got that “monkey” off your back?
Coach K: Yes, that was a big deal, it was a long time coming, a lot of hard work, finally our team got it in their head that they could do it and they just went out there and did it. After we did it the first time we came back and played them again a second time and we handled them with no problem. So I think we got that monkey off our back so we can just go out there and get that out of our head and go play soccer.
SR: You look to have a lot of leadership on your team this year as you have a big group of seniors. Do you feel that these seniors can do a good job and fill the shoes of your previous seniors you lost?
Coach K: We took a big hit last year losing a lot of talent we lost Weston Rhody, Wesley Burchfield, Cameron Lester, Allen Roysden and Jesus Rivera. So we lost  some really good players, but luckily we were able to train a lot of people to fill in for them last year by having a good season and we were able to get them substantial playing time so players can know what to do as a starter.
SR: Did you accomplish everything you set out to do last year?
Coach K: We pretty much did everything we wanted to do except win a region game. It’s still one of our goals to win a region game. We have two of the toughest teams in the state in our region Notre Dame and Chattanooga Christian and they are always in the top eight in the state, so to beat one of them could put us in good chances to play in the state tournament. But we didn’t get that done last year. Beating Livingston, securing  a district championship, those were big goals for us and we had an excellent season. We gave up just two goals in district play in the regular season and  one of those was a penalty kick. We believe that is a pretty successful task.
SR: You have the task of replacing Weston Rhody who was named as the All-District Goalie last year. How do you feel about what this team has to offer in his absence?
Coach K: Weston was a very good goalie, he also had a very good defense around him which allowed the whole team to find success. That team played so well together and that is the biggest thing we have to work on this year is getting these guys to work well together. They have got great talent and a great bunch of guys coming out. I’m really looking forward to this season.
We have got Ben Driver coming in at goal keeper, he’s looking good. He suffered an ankle injury last year. He was also Weston’s back up, but he got a lot of time and he has worked hard  and we have had some drills out here and he is really improving a lot. I think he will be ready for this year. We have got four defenders returning back, all seniors. We also have got some new guys that are going to get some time and they have really stepped up so far so defense looks pretty secure.
Both of our defensive mid-fielders are coming back, Eli Lomas and Ben Pafford, and we also have some one else coming back that has some experience. In the mid-field we lost  out two outside mids, but we have got five or six guys just ready to step in, so it is looking very good there. We also have Luis Richards coming back in center-mid so we are pretty secure there.
Our two starting forwards are back.  They each have like 30 goals each in their careers in they’re just now juniors and we also added more players to that position. So we think we are pretty well secure across the board. The biggest thing for this team is every one playing together and organized and making sure they have all got good chemistry together.
This will be the biggest team we have ever had. We will have 27 to 28 players on the team, the most prior to that was about 24.
SR: What do feel you have to do to be a successful team this season?
Coach K: For us, secure first place in the district in the regular season, then go to the district tournament and win that to be able to move forward and get that regional win. Those are our main three goals. If we can take care of that then I feel we will be successful. But overall success to me is coming out everyday  and playing as hard as you can and being the best you can be on that day. And if we are not the best and we do play our best, I will still be satisfied with that.
SR: Do you think this team has the talent to make it to sub-state?
Coach K: I think they do. It will take a lot of work but I do feel like we have got the talent to do it. It will come down to a matter of if we can all work together and avoid the injury bug, and  you got to make sure you’re keeping your players rested and ready to go and that takes a lot of luck.
I hate to say it but it takes a lot of luck: you have got to play well on the right days  and make sure you’re taking care of business all the time and not be injured. I think these guys know that, and they have tasted success and they like it and they want to keep going at it  and they know it’s going to take hard work to make that happen.
SR: Who  do you feel will step up and be that leader of the team who brings the team together?
Coach K: The vocal leader for sure is Mason Merriman, he is a good leader. We have to keep him focused this year, he’s a senior with great leadership.
Another leader is Ben Pafford, a junior who leads with example. He has got a motor that never stops. He is going to outwork everybody and that leads people by example.
SR: Are you proud of this team?
Coach K: It’s hard to say  when you’re proud yet or not. Like I said I think that they have got a really good potential.
I’m proud of this program, this program had built respect. Everybody knows that we come to play hard and we are not going to come play dirty, we aren’t going to play cheap. We are going to come play and leave it all on the field. And that’s how I want to be remembered and how people see DeKalb County as a bunch of hard working guys who will give them a good game.
The soccer team’s next game will be Thursday, March 15, at home at 6:30.