COVID-19 caused the Class of 2020 some grief last spring and has made for some interesting developments for this season's spring sports teams.
For instance, the Jamestown High School girls soccer team has lost nine of its best players to graduation.
"Every team has lost players and they haven't had a season because of COVID so I really don't know what to expect," JHS head soccer coach Brandi Harty said. "I think this year is going to be really different for a lot of teams because we haven't seen each other in a year.
"It will definitely be an interesting year. It will be a learning year for a lot of the girls just because a lot of them haven't touched a ball in a while."
March 29th marked the Blue Jays' first practice in nearly two years. The Blue Jays will host Bismarck St. Mary's in their first game of the season on April 9 at Rotary Field at 7:30 p.m. The Blue Jays will only be playing conference games this season.
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Harty said some of her athletes played club soccer over the summer months but said that some of the members of her young soccer squad haven't touched a ball since their middle school days. The Blue Jays will also have to prep for a brand new goalkeeper having lost Meredith Walker to graduation.
"Individual skills are going to be really important for them," Harty said. "Getting touches on the ball, working on their passing and their receiving and stuff like that is going to be really important."
Harty said since the Jays' entire season is crammed into 10 short weeks, the team will be playing at least two games a week -- not giving the team much time to sharpen skills and get into soccer shape before they hit the field. Harty said the Jays will be utilizing film and the pool to adequately recover the aches and pains.
"We really have to make sure that we are watching our girls and not pushing them to the point that they are unable to practice because of how sore they (are)," Harty said. "The way we prep and plan for practice is really important for us. We want to make sure that we are watching out for our girls and preparing them."
Senior Sophie McLean will have to be one of those athletes for coaches, fans and opponents to watch. McClean earned all-conference honors as a sophomore and has played center-back since eighth grade for the Blue Jays. Junior Allie Windjue and sophomore Brenna Hatch will also return to the backline.
Winger Haley Nelson is back in the mix of starters while Hannah Murchie will help to anchor the midfield. Sophomore Breanna Oettle has not touched a soccer ball yet as a high schooler, but Harty said the midfielder was a huge asset in her eighth-grade season. Sara Sletto, a freshman, also turned in a stacked stat sheet for Harty in middle school.
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"These girls are excited to finally get to play a high school season," Harty said. "In this area, high school soccer is a big deal for a lot of these girls so they are very excited to finally put on the Blue Jay uniform and step on the field."
Harty is just as excited to get back on the sidelines with the squad.
Since taking over the Blue Jays girls soccer program five years ago, Harty has had quite the run with the Blue Jays.
"The relationship I have with my team is really strong," Harty said. "I feel like the girls trust me as a coach. We've been through a lot. We've been to state once as a team already and we were very competitive my very first year."
Two years ago, the Blue Jays’ started off at 1-7-2. To go along with a pair of draws, Jamestown was 0-for-4 in matches settled by a single goal. Late in the season, the Jays dished out a 4-2 victory over Mandan that kicked off a string of four victories in five games.
The Blue Jays defeated the No. 3 seeded Braves in the WDA state qualifier that helped the Jays' to the No. 4 seed in the 2019 state tournament. The Jays' ended up losing to East Region champion Fargo Shanley/ Oak Grove in the state tournament quarterfinals. The Blue Jays ended the 2019 season with a 2-0 loss to Bismarck High at State.
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"I would never count them out in a game," Harty said. "That's one thing that Jamestown soccer is always going to do is they're never going to stop fighting. I encourage fans to come out and support because it will be such a fun spring."
