Confidence.
It comes with punching time.
It comes from making mistakes and learning from them.
It comes from being comfortable with systems and easily adapting to challenges on the fly.
It is a reward for working at something long enough to see results.
It’s a word assistant coach Peter Antle uses when talking about the Western Wolves entry in the 2018 provincial U15 male soccer league.
Antle and head coach Doug Piercey have been coaching the core group of this year’s squad for the last six years, so they’re familiar with the personalities they have under their wing this year.
It will mark the third year that more than half the roster have shared the soccer pitch as members of the Wolves U15 squad and that’s why Antle believes his team has a realistic chance of winning top honours in Tier 2 this year.
“The kids have a lot more confidence now. These guys have a lot more confidence in terms of being able to move the ball and to score,” Antle said Thursday morning.
The Wolves will play a 15-game regular season schedule in a four-team, Tier 2 setup that also features St. John’s 2, Paradise and Burin. Tier 1, which Western and St. John’s 2 played in last year, will also be a four-team setup with St. John’s 1, Feildians 1, Feildians 2 and Conception Bay South competing for top spot.
Antle has been impressed with the commitment level of his players.
They worked on their skillset and conditioning over the winter months getting together at least once a week and they’ve been on the field since April working out the kinks and getting a few touches on the ball as often as possible.
“The kids have put a lot of work in over the winter to get ready so we think everybody is coming together with one key goal and that’s to win this league,” he said.
The Wolves open the season this weekend with a three-game series against Paradise. The season opener is scheduled for 7 p.m. tonight, while Game 2 is slated for Saturday 3 p.m. and the series wraps up with the third game Sunday 9 a.m. at Wellington Street Sports Complex.
2018 Western Wolves U15 male team
Player Roster
Colton Marche – Stephenville
Preston Wheeler – Stephenville
Kaden Rodriques – Corner Brook
Ryan Murphy — Corner Brook
Kaden Gill — Corner Brook
Jacob Staples — Corner Brook
Darcy Brake — Corner Brook
Alexander Pye — Corner Brook
Kaydan Reid — Corner Brook
Logan Rafferty — Corner Brook
Sam Antle — Corner Brook
Steven Ford — Corner Brook
Ben Smith — Corner Brook
Jordan Dicks-Park — Corner Brook
Liam Knight — Corner Brook
Carver Titterington — Corner Brook
Keegan Piercey — Corner Brook
Brock Tomyn — Corner Brook
Heinrich Potgieter — Corner Brook
