By OLIVIA BERGMEIER
Salina Post
Winning was the mindset for Salina South High School's 2023-2024 boys' soccer season, finishing third at the Kansas State High School Activities Association, or KSHAA, Class 5A Boys' Soccer Championship.
Salina South's season record concluded with 14 wins, six losses and one tie, but they won five games during overtime — a new school record, according to SSHS boys' soccer coach Tim Crow.
The team faced off against Saint Thomas Aquinas from Overland Park at the KSHAA Boys' Soccer Championship in Spring Hill on Saturday, Nov. 4, winning three to two.
Salina South boys' soccer coach Trey Coach attributed the season's success to the players' will to continue striving toward a win.
"The biggest thing is just the drive that each of the kids have — they don't quit ever, and that shows up," Crow said.
Crow began coaching in 2002 and later started a YMCA youth soccer club.
There, he coached his son, Carson Crow, a senior SSHS soccer player and three other seniors on the team, Dominique Girard, Seth Flores and Abram Jennings.
Crow said he watched the four boys grow and helped coach them throughout their careers after joining the SSHS Boys' Soccer coaching staff in 2010.
"It was just a really special year," Crow said. "To see those guys grow from the time they were about six or seven years old to the time they're seniors has been an amazing experience."
The two assistant coaches at SSHS are Caleb Williams and Hernan Hernandez, whom Crow works closely with during the season and relies on for coaching the talented players.
He said it has also been validating for his coaching career, with the recent third place at the championship showcasing his coaching team's ability.
"I feel like what I'm doing is worth it," Crow said. "To see them go from where they first started out to being in a state tournament. I don't think people realize how much time and effort goes into coaching, even on the bad seasons."
Another strategy Crow and his coaching staff put in place was goal setting and continuing to set new goals throughout the season as the team achieved them.
The team would perform pre and post-game reflections for each game, setting game goals, looking at challenges during the pre-game reflection, and utilizing the post-game reviews to analyze the team's performance and what to strive for in the next game.
Getting to the state championship game had been the team's leading goal since the beginning of the season, and Crow said they never gave up, even when they lost in the first round of the championship.
"They will fight tooth and nail until the very end, and just that ability and that willingness to do whatever it took to finish what they started is impressive," Crow said.
Another essential goal for the team was hosting the regional playoffs, which the team accomplished this season.
Ryan Stuart, the SSHS athletic director, attributed the coaches with forming a "team-first" mentality, focusing on the talented players and building up the skills of each teammate.
"Everything they did was with the team-first mentality, and when you have that mixture, that correct mixture of players, you can have a successful season like this," Stuart said.
This season was the second time in the school's history that the boys' soccer team reached the KSHAA 5A Championship stage. SSHS Boys' Soccer won the championship in 2015.