CRESVIEW — Veteran Crestview High School girls soccer Coach Carl Everitt knows it’s not how his team starts the season, but how the Bulldogs finish the season that counts.
“We’re young, but we’ve got a lot of heart,” Everitt, now in his fourth year, said after a recent loss to Fort Walton Beach. “The punch line for our season is the playoffs. As long as we can be fine and score in the playoffs, we’ll be OK.
“Each year we’ve gotten a little bit better. Hopefully, this year, people are going to take notice of us because we can compete with some of the bigger schools.”
Building the Bulldog program has been a gradual process, Everitt said.
“Before, we could compete for the first half, but we didn’t have the depth and in the second half we were tired,” he said. “This year we’ve got a lot of depth so it should be interesting, especially when we play the likes of Niceville, Fort Walton Beach and Milton as well.”
Everitt likes his defenders, including Jordan Richardson, Brianna Sanchez, Lauren Hayes and goal keeper Kelsey Luckett.
“They are very young and very good,” he said.
The Bulldogs will look to Hannah Nolan and Ci Ci Planas for some offense.
“Hannah’s always busy and she just needs to find the goal some more,” he said.
Playing in a tough District 1-4A with Niceville, Fort Walton Beach, Milton, Navarre, Pace, Pine Forest and Tate would test any team, but Everitt is happy with the small victories that come as he watches players improve.
“The girls are getting better and now they are able to do more sophisticated drills than on previous teams,” he said. “The new girls come with a determination and spirit and passion for the game that some of the girls that didn’t come back didn’t have.
"They are young, but they have a passion for the game as well.”
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This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Bulldogs' girls soccer coach patient in building process