See what Coach Omar Shalash and one of his players had to say about the upcoming Frederick Douglass boys’ soccer season.
Jared Peck, Real-Time Sports Reporter for the Lexington Herald-Leader and co-founder of SoccerintheBluegrass.com, visited all nine Lexington high schools and spoke with coaches and players about the upcoming season. Over the next several days, SITB will release the notes and videos from those interviews that were used for the Herald-Leader’s preseason preview: Boys’ soccer: Will state’s toughest region turn out a new contender?
KHSAA link: Frederick Douglass schedule
Coach Omar Shalash
We’re very excited. We’ve been working very hard since the very beginning. We started off and had a really, really tough grass field and now that we’re finally here for about three weeks, we’ve really embraced the process. That’s the thing we’re trying to instill into our players. We want them to understand that this isn’t going to happen overnight. We know what we’re up against. Our first game is Paul Laurence Dunbar, a powerhouse in the state, not just Region 11.
I think the the kids have become … we started off as timid – now you can tell that at our practices it’s become more of a fearless mentality. Understanding that teams aren’t going to come in and look at us and say ‘let’s take it easy on Frederick Douglass, they’re a brand new school.’ It’s actually the complete opposite. They know that us being a brand new school, they are going to want to play us really hard. You know, I don’t want to scare my boys, but they know that if we don’t instill the work ethic at practice, it’s not going to translate to any games.
We’re ready for Region 11. We’re ready for the toughest region in the state. And I’m hoping that the coaches and players around the state embrace us as one of the new schools in Fayette County.
On building a program with young players: It’s the coaching staff’s job to be understanding, but we also have to be firm. Accountability is one of the biggest parts to what we’re trying to do here. If we look at them just by their age or grade level, we’re not setting them up to succeed in the real life.
When you ask me if I’m going to be more patient, of course, I’ll be patient. This is a process. The most important thing I want them to understand is when they mess up, there’s going to be consequences. But the goal for us coaches is to get our players to hold each other accountable. (So it’s) not always us getting on them and being over their shoulder. Hey, if someone messes up and they’re flat-footed, you walk over and say ‘get on your toes, guys. We’ve got to work harder.’” “(It’s) instilling the drive to get better at every practice and the focus of never trying to use our age of grade levels as an excuse or cop out to what we’re trying to do.
It was rough at first, because we have a mix of soccer players and then we have a mix of athletes that have never played soccer. So, when you combine both of those together, you’re going to have hiccups. But about three weeks into being at our field, we’ve actually made huge strides to the better. We’re not correcting anybody in regards to how we should warm up and how we should do through transitioning through drills. It’s not like it used to be, of course, when I’m comparing it to what Coach Lankster and the girls’ program did, but I do know that we’ll get to that point with time. It’s a process. We’re trying to be positive and we’re trying to have fun. But the most important thing that we want them to know is that accountability is always be around.
Comparing (us) to other programs is one thing I’ve told not just the players and coach, but our booster club and parents – there is nobody like us, nobody in the same situation as us. It’s 2017 and you have this brand new soccer program, this brand new high school being established. We can’t ever say, ‘well, this team does this,’ or ‘how does this team look compared to another team across the city.’ So that’s the No. 1 thing that I’ve been getting across to everybody: Frederick Douglass has to be Frederick Douglass. We can’t compare each other with other teams that have been around for 10, 20, 30, 40 years. We would love to get it to that level that Coach Lankster has established with the boys and girls. I was lucky to be a part of both programs. A lot of the things I’m trying to use are things I’ve learned from him and his coaching style for sure.
It’s very important for us as coaches to kind of stay grounded and understand that this is going to be a long process. Expectations need to be realistic. What my goal is for boys soccer at this school is to develop them not just on the soccer field but in the real life and in the classroom. I really feel like my coaching staff, our JV coach, our goalie coach, they’ve really taking in these kids and have started to create these relationships that aren’t just going to last for a school year or a season. They are going to last for four years or five years to six years. For me to be in the position I am right now, I thank God for all of that. I thank Mr. Diaz and Coach McPeek for the opportunity, this chance to represent the soccer program.
Fernando Amador, senior
“I’m excited to play at Frederick Douglass. It’s a new team and we’re getting better each day. And maybe we can go far if we’re a close group. We were strangers, but now we support each other.”
