The Redwood Boys Soccer Varsity team is preparing for their next game against Golden West on Friday, January 19th.
By: Jordyn Soto
This Friday night, Redwood Boys Soccer takes on Golden West for the first time in the ’24 season. The boys share how they plan on working together and doing everything they can as a team to take the win on Friday. Tanner Hutchings, #23 is a junior on varsity and Ethan Bither, #24 is a senior. They explain their game plans for Friday night and how they get ready for the season in advance.
Hutchings, ’25, says, “As a team we will prepare with the mindset of we are not playing for ourselves but we are playing for each other as brothers on this team.” Tanner emphasized on how they encourage one another, making them stronger as a team and making their connection stronger as teammates.
He says, “We encourage each other by being competitive during practice and pushing one another to be the best they can” Some teams have different pregame rituals, Redwood’s ritual is just about the connection between the team and how they can get stronger.
Ethan Bither explains about how they pregame not only for Golden West but for other games/teams as well.
Bither, ’24, says, “We do a lot of mental and physical preparation. We try and watch a lot of film of ourselves and our opposition to get a feel for how they play and what we can do to break them down, and obviously, we do a lot of hard work at practice.”
He also goes on to talk about how it’s not just about winning and that in order to win, you have to work together as a team.
He says, “We have a very tight-knit group that is uplifting towards each other. We have a lot of fun at practice but we also stay focused and realize what we have to do in order to win” Like I said before, some sports teams at different schools have pre-game rituals but Redwood is all about teamwork and being stronger as a team.
He says, “We do pray before the start of every game and we normally have meals as a team on game day or the night before.” These type of “rituals” are what make the team feel more connected and overall prepare for the games ahead.
Ethan finishes by saying how they feel confident and how he is excited to go against Golden West and as long as they work together, they will achieve the outcome they are looking for.
He says, “I am always excited to play games whether we are playing the best team in the country or the worst. But as for the team I know we have been preparing for games like this since the start of the season. We know GW is a very good/strong team but we believe in ourselves and our abilities.”
Tanner and Ethan have faith in their team and they make clear that all their preparation they do before this game and every game is important and is what keeps the team together and strong.
Jordyn Soto
Jordyn Soto, '24, is a first year Sports Writer for the Redwood Gigantea. Other than the Gigantea she enjoys playing soccer and loves to open up to new people and new things. You can reach Jordyn at jordy.so1933@vusd.us.