PHOTO BY JONATHAN MEYER — STC’s Macy Welsh gets into a skirmish over possession of the ball with Marshalltown’s McKenna Coleman during last Thursday’s nonconference matchup. The Bobcats defeated the Trojans 5-0.

On Thursday, April 20, the South Tama Girls Soccer Team fell to the Marshalltown Bobcats 5-0. A number of factors have contributed to the Trojans and their struggles this season. Both tough competitors and uncontrollable variables have plagued the team, leaving their record at 0-9 as of Monday.

Coach Morgan MaFate talked about her knowledge of the Bobcats team after their losing effort.

“We knew going into the game that that team is rough and will play very physical,” she said.

While playing the Bobcats in exhibition last year, the ending result was very similar.

The 2023 soccer season in the state of Iowa has been plagued with a referee shortage, which has left the schedules of various programs around the state to be unpredictable and ever changing. The Trojans have been no exception to this phenomenon, being forced to play back to back games.

Head coach McFate outlined this struggle,

“Definitely playing top tier teams back to back all in the same parts of the season has not been doing us any favors. Solon was last Monday after coming off the weekend and playing Independence that Friday before. So there’s 4 games in 4 days for some players,” she said. “When there are this many games in a row (I look at it as two a night), we start to see a lot of injuries as well as aggressive play as players get exhausted due to not having any rest and then make errors left and right.”

The injuries have started creeping up on the Trojans. Senior Leila Shetler has been sidelined dealing with an injury.

“I would rather keep Leila resting and healing back to 100% instead of pushing her to come back before she’s ready and have a higher price to pay,” McFate said.

Another thorn in the side of the team was the absence of assistant coach Sarah Weiermann.

“Not having an assistant the last two games was frustrating with injuries and then taping as well as trying to manage everything all at once. I feel not having a trainer really adds to this stress as well,” McFate said. “But, it happens right. We definitely learned Thursday and Friday that the soccer gods were smiling down on us and didn’t have anything go too haywire. We also learned to roll with the punches both nights.”

These hurdles have not kept the team or Coach McFate down. As much as winning is fun and the goal in most athletic contests, it does not mean everything. Learning valuable life lessons is a huge part of prep sports. Coach McFate outlined some of her philosophy and approach.

“I really have been focusing on maybe not wanting to win every single game but work harder to do better and be positive humans. I tell the girls all the time, hate me if you want for it, but I would rather you’d be a better person and athlete than just a decent athlete. Overall I want them to love the game as much as I do and want to continue post graduation whether that’s a rec league or playing on weeknights or in some way shape or form,” she said.

“In the past at South Tama, from my experience, girls soccer has been thought of as a losing team that sucks, and girls sports aren’t important. So the message I’m sending is if you don’t think these girls are going to change or affect the world in some way, sports or not, then you’re seriously missing out and have some growing and rethinking to do. The girls at STC are the ones who are going to grow up and become the next generation of adults, and I know while I was in school at STC I had a few coaches and teachers who really started to help me see how powerful and fierce I can be. That’s what I want to help these girls with as well.”

The team holds their heads high no matter what adversity is being kicked their way. The next game is scheduled for Monday, May 1 at Trojan Field against Williamsburg.