Pirates Sport a Deep Roster and Confidence

OXFORD – Standing on the Oxford High School practice soccer field, boy’s head varsity coach Paul Frykberg watched his team jog and do warmups.

“High knees down and butt kicks back!” he called out to his team. Frykberg is happy to have school back in session because preseason presents some problems in preparation for the 2021 season. “Now that school’s back, we have our numbers. Preseason is always difficult because it’s hard to get a hold of everybody.”

He is also pleased to have the 2020 COVID season in the rearview mirror. He said the pandemic restrictions negatively impacted his roster as many kids did not play as a result. However, this season Frykberg sees his soccer roster ballooning to 20 student-athletes. “It’s good to be back!” said the coach as he paused and looked again at his team warming up.

“Hey,” he said to his team. “When you guys are done, partner with a ball. Do a hundred passes, fifty toe-touches, fifty in-betweens, twenty volleys and twenty headers.” For a brief moment, his players stood with a deer in the headlights stare. “Hey, the quicker we do this, the quicker we scrimmage.” With the message received, the players partnered up to start their passing drills.

Prior to the start of practice, the Oxford High School boys’ soccer players were just as thrilled to be back with a full roster. The atmosphere with the team was light. When it was Myles Craft’s turn to answer questions about the team, a broad smile splashed across his face as he sauntered over.

“Wow, my five minutes of fame!” he joked.

But when asked about his team’s chances to win in 2021, the smile quickly vanished from his face as the Pirates’ senior tri-captain and starting midfielder got serious.

“Personally, I want the postseason,” Craft said. After the team finished a disappointing 2-6 during a season with a thin Pirates roster because of COVID, Craft said he and his teammates are poised to turn their fortunes.

“I’d say we are going to do fairly well this season,” he said. “We’ve got a good group of guys. I think we can strike double digit wins. I think our schedule is very comfortable, at least where I’m standing. We’re getting a lot of incoming players back. They didn’t play last year because of COVID … We’re getting that much needed depth that we really didn’t have last year.”

Frykberg has a more tempered outlook on the season for his team. “Our goals for this season are to finish with at least a .500 record,” he said. “But more importantly I want them to grow and develop as players.”

Frykberg said before they can win on the field, his team must improve their communication skills, especially with the younger players. “Communication is huge. One thing, communication builds chemistry on defense, but the other thing with soccer you can’t see behind you. So, you have to rely on the people behind you to tell you what’s going on. Whether you need to cover somebody, whether you need to shift to one side or the other. It’s something we’re working on … They have to be talking … We’re getting them there to find their voices,” he said.

Senior leadership like Craft, and his fellow tri-captains, Sam Zostant and Errick Rebello, play a big role in helping Frykberg develop the younger players. “I just want to help the younger kids learn,” Rebello said. “I want to help them learn different techniques and how to play the position and obviously have good performances.”

Frykberg has a lot of faith in his captains as excellent leaders. “Myles is a gym rat who’s gotten bigger, stronger, and faster every year. Sam Zostant is trustworthy and reliable, always makes good decisions. Errick Rebello has a great soccer IQ.”

Frykberg called out Zostant in particular. “He’s like the perfect captain. He’s always the first one here. He’s always got everything we need. He’s the first one to bring up things if there’s an issue with the team, you know, that kind of stuff. He just made his Eagle Scout as well. He has that type of leadership.”

Zostant credits the seniors’ years of experience playing together as the core to the strength of their leadership abilities. “We’ve been playing together since we were little, so we kind of know how to work around each other,” he said. “If one of us goes up the field, we know one of us can go back. We know what everyone is doing before we actually do it. It’s good communication, that’s what I would say.”

Frykberg said he expects Craft and juniors Aidan Diamond and Eddie Flores to make the most impact on the field. “Myles Craft … controls the left side. Adian Diamond … is our rock on defense. Eddie Flores … is incredibly skilled.” The Pirates also have a few up-and-coming underclassmen who Frykberg expects will emerge as major contributors to the team this season. He has three solid freshmen. “Nathan Davis is a solid midfielder. Alex Paradise is a strong defender and Kofi Owusu is a good finisher/scorer.”

The captains said the Pirates bring a balanced attack on offense and a tough defense. “We have a good attack and we have a good midfield,” said Rebello, who patrols the right midfield. “I think that’s the strongest part of our attack, especially out wide. And our strikers, that’s probably the strongest part.”

“The wings are good because we can cross the ball into the box,” Craft added. He then pointed to a large senior striker named Ben Forbes. “The big tall kid right there. That’s Ben. He’s the striker and we can cross it into him and he can just slam it right in, you know? That’s one of the super strengths we probably have. His size in the middle. He can get the ball.”

Craft, who plays on the left side of the midfield, said the defense is difficult to play against. “We have a lot of physicality to us,” he said. “We play with pace and with some strength in the back … I just think we’re a very well-rounded team.”

The rest of the Pirates solid roster are seniors Andrew Kimball and Matt Arndt; juniors Edwin Flores, Edward Flores, and Ken Mead; freshmen Keron Edmondson and Aidan van Arsdalen; and eighth graders Dylan Cordova, Sam Paradise, and Dan Carlisle.