Cedar Rapids Kennedy girls soccer squad a lesson in making the pieces fit

Soccer is a little different from most sports when it comes to moving players from position to position.

Soccer players generally come up through club sports having played multiple positions. Club, high school, and college positions might all be different.

Versatility and flexibility are good, but for coaches it presents a challenge every season as to how best to deploy that talent. It's a little like a chess match in which you have to think several moves in advance.

Last fall Kennedy junior Carly Langhurst, a key cog at defender in the Cougars' 2014 state championship, tore her ACL. With Langhurst unable to play this spring Coach Scott Myers had to figure out what to do with his roster.

He decided to move junior Morgan Petsche, a mobile, athletic midfielder, to defender.

'The question was how do we move people around so we're more effective and so we're a more dynamic team moving forward,” Myers said. 'And then also looking at who is playing along side them and who complements them.

'You don't necessarily put your best 11 on the field, but you put your most effective 11 on the field. Those that work the best together.”

Kennedy had Abby Hellweg returning at center back.

'That was a huge deal,” Myers said.

The two outside backs would be new, probably juniors Alex Paustian and Melette Devore, who stood out in fall club play. But no decisions were made until practice began.

'We had the idea of putting Morgan back there, but it could have failed miserably,” Myers said. 'But when you look at the pedigree of a collegiate defender, she could potentially fit that pedigree. We discussed that this was another way to develop her level of play.

'She's got a lot of positive attributes, and she's going to go on and be a successful collegiate player.”

Petsche is a skilled, dynamic player and has the ability to attack out of the back as Langhurst did. But this move is a challenge for her, and to her credit she asked a lot of questions of Myers and Langhurst, who is serving as team manager and helping coach the back line as she rehabs the knee.

If Petsche hadn't been comfortable, Myers would have backed off.

'I want her to be in a place where she can be successful,” he said. 'It's not about winning games. It's not just about getting results. She's got to develop as a player, feel comfortable, be challenged but also be successful.”

And then there she was back playing the midfield last Thursday in the team's 10th game.

'Anna (Frerichs) and Mo are both good center backs and good center mids,” Myers said. 'It's just a matter of who's going to play where better and who's going to complement the people around them.

'Anna is definitely looking at playing center back in college. She asked to play back there. So we spent this week letting Anna play back there. She's good, capable and is a good leader.”

In other words, the high school coach has to keep an open mind during the 2-1/2 month season while considering the big picture for college-bound athletes as well as the week-to-week challenges. Positions are fluid to say the least. It helps to have imagination and more than a bit of psychological acumen for it all to work.