It’s not unknown that schools all over the nation have had to re-find their groove moving into this “post-COVID protocol” era. Going into the Fall 2022 sports season, a few of LBCC’s sports teams have shared their expectations for this upcoming season, and what they have done differently to prepare.
Last year, coming back to campus for the first time since the shutdowns of 2020, teams struggled with consistency, recruiting, staying healthy, and in-person practices. These elements are key for the process of building strength, relationships, and trust in order for a team to succeed.
Football coach Brett Peabody says, “We have to make sure we stay healthy, very careful in the way they practice. The big challenge in football every year is to stay healthy.”
After speaking with a few of LBCC’s teams, it is evident that the expectations for this year have risen.
Men’s soccer coach Jorge Reyes says, “Last season I thought we had a pretty successful season. We didn’t accomplish what I thought we were able to accomplish, but the team was formed pretty last minute. So I thought we over-excelled because we couldn’t recruit. The players we had were the players we had.”
This year Reyes has helped to paint a clearer picture of what the team needs to aim to achieve. He says, “They know the expectations now.”
The difference in the amount of preparation teams have been given this year versus what they lost out on last year is night and day.
Peabody speaks on this, “We feel very good, and we feel like we have a very good team this year. We got to have an off-season, which we didn’t get to have last year.”
Men’s soccer ended their season last year early in their state championship game. Reyes admits that they wobbled and limped into the game. He says, “We were injury prone.”
The preseason and recruiting time are detrimental factors when creating a bonded team. Peabody agrees saying, “Last year we didn’t have a lot of time to build the team so the chemistry wasn’t as great. This year I think both sides of the ball respect the talent on the other side.”
LBCC cheerleaders had similar experiences. At the end of their cheerleading competition season coach, Dianna Gallias admitted that the next step with the team was to qualify and eventually go to the Daytona Beach NCA national cheer competition.
This July LBCC cheerleaders have officially earned themselves a silver paid bid to Daytona Beach. They’ve put in the work, the hours, and the commitment to cheer all summer long and it’s safe to say they are seeing results.
When most coaches are asked what the main goal for the year is, many say they want to win their championships. Reyes answered with this instead, “My biggest goal is just having all of our players engaged academically… Obviously I’m competitive and I want to win, but not at the expense of these guys’ academics. We make it a priority here.”
The academic aspect of any sports season is arguably the most important. If the grades are lost, then so is the scholarship, and coaches understand this.
Scouts are going to be on the fields all year picking through all the talent LBCC has to offer.
Peabody added this in regards to the number of scouts there will be this season, “It should be pretty hot around here with the amount of talent we have on the field.”
LBCC sports have a lot to prove this year, and all eyes will be on them, watching to see what they have in store.