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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
After dropping a 5-4 double-overtime road heartbreaker to Lawrence on a penalty kick Tuesday night, Topeka High's soccer team was looking for something positive to wipe the sour taste out of its match.
It only took 1 minute, 49 seconds on Thursday at Hummer Sports Park to start that process, with the Trojans getting an early goal from junior Noah Storrer to kick start a 5-1 Centennial League win over Hayden.
Topeka High junior Noah Storrer (6) put the Trojans ahead to stay with an early goal and the Trojans went on to take a 5-1 Centennial League win over Hayden Thursday night at Hummer Sports Park. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
"We were excited about the way we played at times against Lawrence, but having that filthy taste in our mouths for a couple of days, getting a goal early and doing it the right way and not just getting lucky with something, that set the tone for the evening,'' Topeka High coach Derek Snook said.
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By Todd Fertig
TopSports.news
High school football players who come off the field have traditionally made a trip to the water cooler, congregated near the coaches to watch the action on the field, or perhaps snuck a peak at their friends and family in the stands.
But increasingly, local players are gathering around large screen televisions on the sidelines or peering at hand-held devices on the bench.
The high school game is becoming more high-tech by the season. It’s not uncommon to see a drone buzzing just outside the field of play, filming the action and relaying those images to coaches as the game is going on.
For an old school football fan familiar with Vince Lombardi’s diagrams on a chalk board, it can all seem mind boggling. But to teenagers immersed in a high-tech world, it’s the best way to learn the game.
Highland Park football coach Jermaine Monroe said that ever-changing technology can provide big advantages for high school teams. [File photo/TSN]
“This is the way to communicate to students today,” said Highland Park coach Jermaine Monroe. “I think to be able to connect to students in the classroom and on the field, we need to stay up with the times. We have to be able to change and adapt. Technology in the game is not going anywhere, and it’s only going to get better and better.”
Monroe is one of several veteran coaches in the area who are working hard to adapt to the new technology. He said he no longer prints playbooks for his players to study. It’s all done on video.
“I’m 100% enjoying it,” Monroe said. “I was kind of stuck in the old school way of doing things, but when I learned how user-friendly these things are, it’s making things easier and I’m getting information to the boys faster, which is the most important thing.”
Shawnee Heights football coach Jason Swift said that the T-Bird coaching staff uses technology in a variety of ways to communicate with Heights' players. [File photo/TSN]
Shawnee Heights coach Jason Swift said the T-Birds typically use a camera in or on top of the press box to send video instantly to a TV on the sideline.
“That enables us to, in between series, have a unit look at the video on the monitor which allows the coaches to teach what’s going on based on the past series,” Swift said. “It’s instant feedback.
“A lot of our kids play both ways and don’t come off the field long enough to look at film. But seven or eight might.”
Like many teams, Shawnee Heights uses a drone and mounts a camera on a tripod in one end zone to provide different angles of the action. While the T-Birds utilize footage strictly from the press box during the game, Swift said the other video footage is invaluable for teaching in practice.
“I love it,” Swift said. “It’s more time management on downloading film and getting it ready to show to kids. If you’re looking at a sideline view of a play and an end zone view of the play, you have to cut it up so that they match. It’s a little bit more time consuming, but the benefit of using it as a teaching tool outweighs the time.”
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Finishing second at the highest level of Class 6A high school and NCAA Division II soccer is a fine accomplishment, but frankly Washburn University standout Belle Kennedy is sick of it.
Former Washburn Rural soccer star Belle Kennedy is a returning All-MIAA first-team pick for Washburn, which will open its 2024 season at 6 p.m. Thursday at Yager Stadium against Missouri-St. Louis. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
"Incredibly,'' Kennedy said.
Kennedy helped Washburn Rural post a runnerup finish in the 6A state tournament as a freshman. Then, after having the 2020 season cancelled by COVID-19 and finishing third as a junior, the two-time 6A Midfielder of the Year helped lead Rural to another second-place state finish to close out her high school career.
The All-MIAA first-teamer came tantalizingly close to a championship again last fall as a Washburn sophomore, but again the title ended up just out of reach of her and her teammates.
And now, with Davy Phillips' Washburn team returning a wealth of experience from last year's 21-4-1 NCAA Division II runnerup team, Kennedy and her teammates are setting their sights on another run at the crown, beginning their quest with Thursday's 6 p.m. season-opener against Missouri-St. Louis at Yager Stadium.
"I really want our team to be first, no matter what,'' Kennedy said. "That's our hope every single year and even though we don't always get the result that we want, to know how far we came last year is a big accomplishment in itself. But we need to get better this year.
"You're still not satisfied with (second), that is true, but I've come to embrace it and realize that we have two more years left at least in my eligibility to get it done and our team, we have one more year with 11 of our great players that are going to be graduating after this fall, and I think we still have the chance to do it.''
Kennedy, a two-time All-MIAA honoree, has seemingly made a smooth transition to college soccer, but she said it has been an adjustment.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Like most coaches in all sports, Washburn University soccer coach Davy Phillips really appreciates the practice aspect of coaching.
But after multiple weeks of practice, Phillips knows his Ichabod players are ready for the real thing and will get that chance with a pair of non-conference battles Thursday and Saturday at Yager Stadium.
Davy Phillips' Washburn soccer team, coming off a runnerup finish in the 2023 NCAA national tournament, opens its season Thursday night at Yager Stadium. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
No. 2 nationally-ranked Washburn, the 2023 NCAA Division II runnerup, will make its 2024 debut at 6 p.m. Thursday against Missouri-St. Louis before hosting Maryville at 1 p.m. on Saturday.
"The players definitely are ready,'' Phillips said. "I like coaching and teaching the game to be honest but there's a reason we keep score and games matter. For a variety of reasons we didn't get a preseason scrimmage in, so (Thursday) is really, truly the first time out against someone else, so the girls are anxious, eager to play.
"We've been kind of building up what it means to play games, what it means to play the season, so the whole buildup is, I think, leading the girls into a very excited spot about tomorrow.''
WU is fresh off a run to the NCAA title game in 2023, compiling a 21-4-1 record and winning the MIAA regular-season championship.
Missouri-St. Louis went 8-6-3 in 2023 with a 7-4-1 record in the GLVC, falling in the GLVC tournament quarterfinals while Maryville went 14-3-4 with a 10-1-2 record in the GLVC. The Saints fell in the semifinals of the GLVC tournament, but earned a berth in the NCAA tournament, where they advanced to the second round.
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By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Ella Dirks didn't know exactly what to expect when she reached out to Washburn University football coach Craig Schurig this past spring.
Ella Dirks, who grew up around football, joined the Washburn University coaching staff this fall as a student assistant. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
But suffice it to say the Washburn freshman was blown away by Schurig's response, offering the 18-year-old the opportunity to break into coaching as a member of the Ichabods' coaching staff as a student assistant.
"My senior year of high school (at Blue Valley Northwest), around April, I contacted coach Schurig because I was still deciding on colleges and I was like, 'Can I be a manager? I would carry water or anything because I just want to be a part of football,' '' Dirks said. "And he came up to me with this opportunity and said, 'Hey, would you like to do this? Is this something you're interested in?'
"I was honestly shocked and I was like, 'Absolutely, I would love to do it,' so all props to coach Schurig for offering me the position. I'm very grateful for what I'm doing.''
Schurig's association with the Dirks family goes way back to 2000 and 2001 when Schurig was an assistant at Pittsburg State and Ella's father, the late Josh Dirks, was a standout offensive lineman for the Gorillas.
Schurig and the Dirks family re-connected in 2013 and 2014 when Josh came on board at Washburn as a volunteer assistant while Ella's mother, Tiffany, served as a WU professor.
Josh Dirks, then an assistant coach at Olathe North, passed away in November, 2021, at the age of 39 but Schurig maintained contact with the family, and when Ella contacted him, Schurig thought it was a natural to offer her a chance to be involved with a sport she loves.
Student assistant coach Ella Dirks cheers on Washburn during the Ichabods' season-opener against Emporia State. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
"I had seen Ella grow up and she was very athletic and she loved sports and loved football,'' Schurig said. "Her dad was a very good football player and a coach and all of that, so when she was coming to school here she approached me and wanted to see if there was anything she could do to help out the team. I was like, 'Well shoot, why don't you GA, why don't you coach?'
"Her dad was coaching at Olathe North, so she went to all of those games and she knows football and she loves athletics and loves to compete. And it worked out well because Mitchell (Schurig) is with the offensive line and he knows Ella well and we thought we might as well have her learn the offensive line because that's where her dad played. I thought that was a good fit and pretty cool.
"You're seeing these women in the NFL and major college football and everywhere, and if she really likes it she could get involved in coaching and there's always a way you can do that. So she kind of got excited about it and then we wanted to see if it would fit and it fit well.''
