What Makes a Successful Season?

By Grant McNall, Head Coach, University of Wisconsin-Rock County

originally published in the Soccer Journal - the Official Publication of NSCAA

What makes a successful season? After my 2005 season at the University of Wisconsin Rock County, a Division Ill junior college, I thought I had a pretty good idea. We had a record of 13-4, with three of those losses coming against the same team, all by one goal. Records were set for wins in a season, winning percentage and goals scored. Three of our players were named first-team All-Wisconsin Collegiate Conference, one player was named to the second team, one was honorable mention and one was named conference player of the year. Additionally two of our players were named to the Wisconsin Junior College Athletic Association All State team. Our leading scorer was invited to try out for the University of Wisconsin men's soccer team.

Going in to the 2006 season I was expecting success again. We were returning eight players from the 2005 season, including our second leading scorer and one of our WJCAA all-state players, our starting keeper (who set a record for shutouts in a season), our leading assist man and a trio of players who were tied for third in goals scored. Our recruiting class had been outstanding; we had landed four recruits with high school all-conference credentials, including one of the area's best prep players.

The off-season went well. All of my recruits were admitted to school. My returning players were working out and maintaining good grades. I was able to attend the NSCAA National Diploma Course during the summer. There was also the birth of my third child and first girl.

It was about this time that I had the first inkling of things to come. One of my main recruits called to let me know he wasn't going be able to play because of work obligations. That is to be understood. Many of the students that attend junior college also work nearly full time.

In August we held our team meeting to go through paperwork and such. Another one of my main recruits attended on crutches because of an ankle sprain, two other recruits were total no-shows, and one of second-year players told me that he was taking a semester off to work and save money I started to get nervous.

We started practice two weeks later, and then I became concerned. Three of my prized recruits decided to attend school but not play soccer. There was no return time set for my recruit with the ankle sprain. My best returning player was withdrawing from school for personal reasons. I was faced with having to replace six projected starters, a rather daunting proposition.

The start of the season was rough. We were forced to start three players who had never played in high school. We did not have a true goal-scoring threat. Our defense had to be changed because we didn't have enough experienced defenders. Two penalty kicks were missed. We went 0-2-3 in our first five games, giving up 14 goals and only scoring two.

After a rather humiliating 0-3 loss at home, some of our players were hanging out, and they persuaded one of their friends to join the team. He was a basketball player with no real soccer experience, but he was a phenomenal athlete and had a great attitude. At the time I had no idea what he would bring to the team.

Our next game signaled a slight shift in our season. We lost 3-5, but played well in horrible conditions. Our basketball-turned-soccer player scored in his first game. We played the team that went on to win our conference championship next, and again we lost, this time 2-3, but we were never out of it and actually played pretty well. Mr. Basketball scored both of our goals. Things were looking up.

We won our first game 9-0 the next week. Our new player was a certified scoring machine, scoring three goals in that game. In three games he had scored 6 goals. He had the game-winning assist in our next game, a 2-1 overtime thriller that saw us avenge three bitter losses from last season at once. We were in an excellent position to make the conference tournament. All we had to do was win our next game and we were in.

Unfortunately we didn't show up to play our next game, gave up four first-half goals and lost 4-1. We dropped our last game of the season 4-3 in overtime and our season came to a close. I would be lying if I told you I wasn't a little disappointed. What could've been another dominating season turned into one of rebuilding and learning.

It was during the post-season that I realized our season was a little better than I thought. One of our second-year players became our career assist leader and tied the single-season record. That same player and another moved into the top 10 For career points. Our goalkeeper added two shutouts and now had seven in his career. That basketball player who had never played soccer before was our leading goal scorer for the season. We continued to learn and improve during the season, and except for two games we were competitive in all of our conference matches. Our returning players for 2007 were enthused and already were working out.

I was pleasantly surprised when the all- conference awards were announced. All five of our nominated players received recognition. We had one first-team, one second-team and three honorable mention players. Our first-team selection received the second highest amount of votes in the conference and also qualified for the Wisconsin Junior College Athletic Association All-State team. Our basketball/soccer player received second-team recognition, which is remarkable given his limited experience. More important, three of my soccer players became involved in the local soccer club, coaching a variety of youth teams and giving their time back to the community

When I look back at this season I am reminded of something a campus dean said to me after my first season: "A successful season should not be measured on wins and losses alone." I agree. Although we were 2-6-3, it was one of our most successful seasons ever.