Southeast Missouri State University student publication

Club enters collegiate play

Tuesday, September 16, 2014
Members of the Southeast soccer club practicing at Parker Field. Submitted photo.

On a sunny Wednesday afternoon on Parker Field, a group of young women are going through a cycle of soccer drills, including partner volley work, ladder drills and a few other warm-up drills in between.

Two Southeast Missouri State University students worked together to create a women's club soccer team. They both took an interest of theirs and started something that a lot of young women in the future will be able to use as they transition from high school into college.

These aren't members of the Southeast women's soccer team and they aren't just playing to get better in pick up. The women are practicing for the two games they have over the weekend.

President Taylor Buettmann and vice president Paige Jones took a semester to put together a club that would allow fellow female soccer lovers a chance to play competitively.

The idea came from Jones back in 2012, but she didn't really know how to put it into motion. Buettmann, a transfer student, arrived on campus and the two gathered up players and got things up and running.

Most of the players were high school soccer players who wanted to still play soccer at the next level but didn't want to commit to the life of a scholarship athlete.

Others just had a love for the game that wouldn't die.

"I wanted to get back involved with soccer," freshman player Brooke Colbert said. "It's my favorite sport."

At practice there are a bunch of colorful cleats dancing in and out of cones.

Jones makes sure that most of the women get the fundamentals down with passing drills and full-out scrimmages.

They go hard at practice knowing that they have to be ready for the upcoming opponents. They stress things like ball control, passing techniques and ball movement.

According to Buettmann, the team is playing in a college league where it will be playing against clubs from other schools in the surrounding areas.

The league consists of teams from Saint Louis University, Washington University, the University of Missouri, SIU Edwardsville and Truman State.

The club travels during the weekend to and from games.

The club helps the freshmen on the team get to know more people and assemble a group of friends early on in their college careers.

"You have friends and a sense of camaraderie with your teammates," Colbert said. "Some went searching for the group, when with others, the group found them."

Buettman and Jones went out and spread the word on campus, helped underclassmen on move-in day, and even had a booth in the Show Me Center's Welcome Back Picnic.

The work they put in was a success because now they have a team that they can get ready to compete in this year's season.

This weekend the club will compete in two away contests where they will face the University of Missouri and Truman State. The team members are confident and ready for their opposition. They will soon play games at Southeast as well.

The team practices three times a week at 4 p.m. at Shawnee Park. New members are welcomed to join the club as well. For any further information, contact Buettmann at trbuettmann1s@semo.edu.

Comments