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Tigers Soccer Ready for New Season
Coach K



The DeKalb County High School Tigers soccer team has been on the field, getting ready for the upcoming 2023 season. Head Coach Dylan Kleparek, or Coach K as he is called by his players, says the team is looking good this year with a lot of experience coming back to the field.

“I think we’re pretty strong,” Coach K said. “We’ve got a lot coming back this year. We only lost one senior last year so we’re bringing back all of our starters.”

“We had a player that started for us as a sophomore, he moved away but now he’s moved back,” Kleparek said. “Now he’s a senior. So, we lost a senior, we gained a senior, got everybody back, and we’re looked pretty solid.”

Coach K said that the Tigers have a lot of experience this year with a large senior class. “We have 10 seniors this year, so just about the whole field will be covered with seniors. They’ve all played together since they were little kids. I think it’s going to be an exciting year.”

When asked about how the Tigers stand in the district, Coach K was very optimistic. “We should be a strong team. You don’t want to jinx yourself, but it’s going to take work. They’re not going to give us first place, we have to earn it. That’s what we’re going for.”

As for the district, Coach K said the plateau teams should be the ones to look out for. “Our district is broken up north and south. We’ll play everybody once, but we’ll play the teams in the south twice, Cumberland, DeKalb, and White are in the south, while Livingston, Stone Memorial and Upperman are in the north.”

“Every year, Cumberland is going to be a challenge,” Coach K continued. “Stone Memorial and Livingston will also fight for the top. White and Upperman are still building their programs I feel like, but on any given day, anybody can beat anybody. You’ve got to come to play every time.”

Coach K said the team is getting ready for some preseason play, getting the players ready for the fast-paced action of regular play. “We’ll have a preseason play day on March 11, with eight teams coming out to play, varsity and JV on both fields. Our first regular season game will be the following Tuesday against Upperman.”

Coach K also pointed out the continuing efforts to improve the soccer field. The field had lights installed before last season, and this year the field sports new dugouts for the teams. Coach K said that with the addition of new stadium seating at the Tigers’ football field, the soccer field hopes to get a portion of the old stands relocated to the soccer field sometime in the future.

The Tigers first regular season game is scheduled on the road on March 14 against Upperman, with their first home game against Coffee County on March 16 at 7 p.m.  

2023 DCHS Tigers Soccer Roster

#              Name                                                    Grade

2              Jonathan Balderas                           11
3              Cooper Brown                                   12
4              Connor Hopkins                               9
5              Brayan Aguirre                                  10
6              Ekow Afful-Turkson                        11
7              Jonathan Zavala                               12
8              Miguel Mata                                      12
9              Cameron Miller                                12
10           Yair Mata                                             12
11           Adan Ramirez                                    12
12           Axel Aranda                                       10
13           Aydan Bean                                        11
14           Jaxon Kleparek                                                 9
15           Leo Delgado                                       10
16           Emilio Garcia                                     11
17           Hector Cervantes                             10
18           Brandon Silva                                    12
19           Jose Guzman                                     10
20           Milas Driver                                       10
21           Ryder Miller                                       12
23           Giovani Palomo                                9
24           Jesus Guzman                                   10
25           Bryan Ramirez                                   10
26           Jonathan Garcia                                12
27           Cesar Gaspar                                      11
28           Cale Brown                                         10
29           Erick Hernandez                               10
30           Miguel Guzman                                10
31           Connor Vance                                   12
32           Jack Gassaway                                   9

Coaches: Dylan Kleparek, LaTonya Kleparek, and Jasper Kleparek

Managers: Jacklyn Kleparek, Ailish Munoz, Raven Savage, MaKinzy Jenkins, Kinsley Savage, Hannah Aldino, and Kylee Savage.


 DCHS TIGERS SOCCER 2023 SCHEDULE

PRESEASON                                                                                                        V             JV

Sat. 4-Mar           Middle School Playday                                  Home
Sat. 11-Mar         DeKalb Playday                                                                Home    8:00        JV

REGULAR SEASON

Tues. 14-Mar      *Upperman                                                        Away     6:00 
Thurs. 16-Mar    Coffee Co.                                                          Home    7:00        5:00
Fri 24-Mar           Springfield JV (Smoky Mt. Cup)                                 Away                     6:00 E
Fri 24-Mar           Ooltewah (Smoky Mt. Cup)                         Away     8:00 E
Sat. 25-Mar         Shelbyville JV (Smoky Mt. Cup)                                Home                     9:30 E
Sat. 25-Mar         Carter (Smoky Mt. Cup)                                                Away     11:30 E
Sun. 26-Mar        Gat.-Pittman (Smoky Mt. Cup)                   Home    9:30 E
Sun. 26-Mar        William Blount JV (Smoky Mt. Cup)         Away                     11:30 E
Tues. 4-Apr         *Stone Memorial                                             Home    6:00        after
Thurs. 6-Apr       Cannon Co.                                                         Home    6:00        ?
Tues. 11-Apr      *Cumberland Co.                                             Home    6:00        after
Thurs. 13-Apr     *White Co.                                                         Home    6:00        ?
Tues. 18-Apr      *Livingston                                                         Home    6:00        after
Thurs. 20-Apr     *White Co.                                                         Away     6:00        ?
Tues. 25-Apr      *Cumberland Co.                                             Away     6:30        after
Thurs. 27-Apr     Central Magnet                                                Away     6:15
Tues. 2-May       Macon Co.^                                                        Home    6:00        ?
Thurs. 4-May      Warren Co.                                                         Away     6:00        ?

POSTSEASON

Mon. 8-May                        1st Round District Tourn.              TBA        TBA
Tues. 9-May                       2nd Round District Tourn.            White   TBA
Thurs. 11-May                   District Championship                   White   TBA
Tues. 16-May                     Region Semifinals                           TBA        TBA
Thurs. 18-May                   Region Championship                   TBA        TBA
Sat. 20-May                        Substate                                              TBA        TBA
Mon.-Fri. 22-May             State Tournament                           TBA        TBA

^ Senior Night   * District Match