Boys Varsity Soccer sets a precedent of momentum and team camaraderie coming out of St. Louis.
The boys Varsity soccer team traveled to St. Louis, Missouri on Friday, September 17 to attend a soccer tournament. The St. Louis soccer tournament happens every year and gives the soccer team an opportunity to play a fresh set of players and bond during the voyage.
“It went good,” said Cale Williams ‘25. “We grew a lot, we got better and we came away with a win.”
The tournament in St. Louis is hosted every year at Principia Highschool, near the middle of the soccer season, and is an eagerly awaited event. Even though the team did not play Principia, the highschool had great facilities, “the fields… were really nice,” according to Tyler McNeive ‘24.
The team is led by Head Coach Scott Huppe and Team Co-Captains Max Parr ‘22, Vikas Maganti ‘22, Ian Koepp ‘23, George Colombo ‘23, and Andrew Lang ‘23. The team came out victorious, winning one game 4-2 and another 2-0. Beyond the wins and losses, however, team members formed connections with each other that travel beyond the field.
Usually, the soccer team stays in St. Louis for two nights and plays more teams. However, this year, the tournament looked different because of COVID. The boys’ sleeping situation was more strict, and they were not allowed to venture into each other’s rooms. Coach Huppe said that during past tournaments, on Saturday nights after their games, the team would come together and play Fifa, staying up late and having fun. Instead, the soccer team went straight home after their Saturday game. Despite the different dynamic, the team was still able to bond and have fun.
The upperclassmen were paired with the lowerclassmen in the hotel rooms so they could get to know each other. Not all the teammates were friends before this experience, but spending time with someone new brought them together. Cale Williams ‘25 says that the team’s “chemistry, it got a lot better after this tournament.”
Outside of the hotel and the soccer field, the team went out to eat and spent over eight hours round trip on the bus together. They shared meals together, eating sandwiches and “the best part was devouring the pizza,” said Alex David ‘23.
On August 9th, the boys team had their first practice, well before the start of school on August 20th. Practices continued through all of their games, the first of which at Bishop Miege High School on August 27th. Unfortunately, the boys suffered a 0-6 loss against Miege, but Alex David ‘23, says that Miege “is a bigger school,” and therefore, has a bigger talent pool. After two more losses against Maryville and Sacred Heart, the team pulled it together with four consecutive wins, two of which in St. Louis.
Much of the trouble that varsity felt at the beginning of the season came from the fact that both the sophomores and the freshmen were new due to COVID-related season cancellation. Captain Max Parr ‘22 explained that “basically all of the lowerclassmen were new this season.” More than half of the varsity team is made up of lowerclassmen. Tyler McNeive ‘24 says that “it is difficult…to learn the team’s system, but [the freshmen] were, overall, a good addition to the team.”
Parr continued, however, that “the sophomores and freshman played extremely well for having never played at an actual high school game.” Freshmen Carson Matula ‘25 and Cale Williams ‘25 both stepped into their roles inside of the team with six sophomores.
Alex David ‘23, a player on the varsity team, said that the team “really came together” for the tournament this weekend, and “got a lot better” in the preceding weeks. Specifically, Cale Williams ‘25 and Tyler Mcneive ‘24 did well during gameplay, but only with the combined effort from the team in its entirety.
According to McNeive ‘24, varsity’s “ball movement” stood out as some of the best from this season, proving the increased improvement showcased within the team’s skills.
“Everyone’s been on the same page, and we’re getting really close to doing that,” explains Coach Huppe.
The team could not have done it with their Coach Huppe. Coach Huppe has been at Barstow since 2001, and his teams have made it to 8 quarterfinals, 4 Final Fours, and 2 state championships, winning both in 2014 and 2018. Huppe has received a multitude of awards and even played professionally with the Los Angeles Swampcats and the KC Attack.
Coach Huppe was happy to see the team grow together and believes that an important part of the team dynamic on the field must be forged off the field. Every year he sees the team grow closer and the freshmen become adopted into the group. However, this year the sophomores were also new to the group and the team was not as close as past years. “I definitely saw them grow closer together during this trip,” Huppe said.
Coach Huppe’s advice was a necessary part of the team’s win. According to Mcneive, Coach said that the trip “was not a vacation, it was a business trip.” Most of the team remembered that, along with the more lighthearted Coach Huppe classic, “refry your own beans.” During interviews with the players, Carson Matula ‘25 was the only one who had an inkling of what Coach Huppe meant, explaining that “if everyone does their job, the job gets done.” When asked about the meaning of the quote, Huppe simply said, “No.”
If the St. Louis tournament says anything about boys varsity soccer, it displays an immense amount of love for the team and the sport. Varsity not only improved their skills and gameplay on the field, but their relationships with each other, and the Barstow community cannot wait to see what they will accomplish next. This team proves that boys soccer is about more than just winning; it’s about independence, camaraderie, and team spirit. Also, remember Barstow, refry your own beans.
