Boys Varsity Soccer

The boys varsity soccer team is looking to make the final four after reaching it in last year’s season. Coach, David Harbin, is ready for the season’s competitive schedule. “Tryouts were competitive. The level of play for boys’ soccer in Decatur continues to improve,” he said. While having challenging games the entire season their  biggest competitors are Westminster and Blessed Trinity. “Most of our games are against teams that will challenge us to play our best and push us to improve,” Harbin said. “In our region, we hope to challenge Blessed Trinity and Westminster for the championship.  Those two teams consistently put strong teams on the field and require us to play at our highest level.” With players continuing to practice on the off-season, Harbin is excited to get back on the field. “They are a good group of guys,” he said. “The like to have fun.  I know they have been working hard in the off-season and are ready to prove that their success last year was not a fluke.”

Varsity Boys Lacrosse

Varsity boys lacrosse coach, Wesley Hatfield, prepares the athletes for a good season and minimal regulation changes. “There is one rule, if you offensively carry it back into the end zone it’s an automatic turnover and a tiny adjustment to face off rules.” Hatfield is looking forward to see the younger players develop and work to get varsity playing time. The focus for the season is “making sure the younger guys can really affect how they contribute and we can make the best use of where their skills are.” St.Pius and Marist stand as the biggest competitors of their region, with Savannah losing many seniors Hatfield isn’t as concerned.

Girls Varsity Lacrosse

Girls varsity Lacrosse coach, Christopher Watkinson, says that the region has grown. DHS girls will now play 13 required region games out of the total 16 games. “This makes every game of the season an important one.” said Watkinson.  “We missed the playoffs last season for the first time in a while and this year it is our goal to get back to the playoffs.” With only two returning seniors, the team is younger than past years.  Watkinson believes the returning JV players and strong rising 9th graders will help build the team in the future. Another change the team will have to adjust to are the new changes in rules and regulations. “There are several new rules to the game with mandatory cards for dangerous contact violations and changes to some positional restarts after penalties.”Watkinson said.

Varsity Tennis

Varsity tennis coach, Blair Rostolsky, is preparing for the 2016 season. Helping the team this year will be Jabari Cole, Glen Lake tennis coach. He will be working with the development of players strokes, point simulation, and how to handle pressure situations. The team’s biggest competitors remain Blessed Trinity and Westminister. “Our region has a few tough opponents but we are going to be a very competitive team and I foresee going very far in the region and state tournaments,” Rostolsky said. The team lost senior Austin Bass, who played number one singles on the varsity team last year. “We have a very young team; lots of new players, few seniors,” she said. Rostolsky looks forward to seeing more students at the matches and the second annual “Play it Forward” fundraiser.

Girls Varsity Soccer

The girls varsity soccer team is getting ready for the season. Practices as early as mondays at 6 a.m. are preparing the team to reach their goal of a state championship. “It is going to take a lot of hard work and grit out of every single player, ” coach Stephen Gathany said. “ No one is going to hand us the trophy.” The girls are trying out a new formation of 4-3-2-1, which focuses on players role in designated positions based on skill. The team is transitioning into being more “attacking minded” while also maintaining a good defense. There haven’t been many adjustments in regulations. “No big changes, except coaches, players and fans have to be careful how they say things to referees because any yelling could be considered dissent,” Gathany said.   

Pictures courtesy of Keson Graham