The DeKalb County Middle School will be taking to the field next Friday evening as the Lady Saints Soccer team plays their very first game ever. The newly formed program, girls in the fall and boys during the spring, is filling a big gap for DeKalb soccer, giving players a team between the recreational leagues and the high school program.
Lady Saints Coach Justin Nokes told the Review the new team has some growing to do. Unlike established programs, there are no returning players from the previous year. The team even has some players that are new to the sport altogether. "We’re starting the year with a lot of new girls that haven’t ever played before," Nokes said. "We have some that have played before and we’re trying to put it all together. We’ve got a lot of good girls that don’t quit, and I’m looking forward to this year. Being the first year, I think we’re going to do pretty well."
Coach Nokes says the team will form a bridge between the DeKalb Youth Soccer League and the DCHS soccer teams. "This is our first year, so a lot of these girls have come out of rec league soccer, which is a fantastic organization that has given school soccer a big boost. We’re trying to take the skills and concepts that they’ve learned in that league and take that to the next level and form a varsity middle school team that can compete each game."
Nokes says the middle school program will work closely with the Tigers and DeKalb Youth Soccer. "We practice and play our games on the practice high-school field. This wouldn’t have been made possible without Coach K’s [Kleparek’s] support. Coach K has supported us from day one and he has let us use his field for practice. We’re even going to be playing our games here [the high school practice field] in the early afternoons because we have no lights.
"The rec league has contacted me numerous times to see if there is anything they can do to get our program going. They have been a huge help as well."
Another bright spot for the middle-school teams, as well as the DCHS soccer program, is the construction of a new dedicated soccer field at Northside Elementary School. Nokes said that while the progress is slow, the futures of the programs are bright. "We’re doing some fundraising this year and all of our proceeds will be going to that new soccer field, so we can get our own field, and our own goals. We won’t have to worry about who’s playing there and we’ll be able to paint our lines how we want to. We’ll have lights there eventually. It’s going to be a good thing for DeKalb County soccer to have our own field, not only for the middle school, but also for the high school. Coach K deserves it after all these years."
Coach Nokes said that the community could help with the construction of the field in numerous ways, through donations and sponsorships. "If you see a high school or middle school boy or girl that plays on one of these teams, they’ll be more than happy to give you a paper that will show how to help our cause to get our own field."
The DeKalb Lady Saints program’s premiere game is Friday at 6:00 p.m. at the Cookeville Soccer Complex against Avery Trace Middle School.