WORTON — Kent County High School’s varsity-only girls soccer program has enough players to fill every position, plus one spare.
That’s a victory that won’t show up in the W-L record, but one that is significant nonetheless.
First-year head coach Ben Joiner said the Trojans already have hurdled their first obstacle when it looked as if there wouldn’t be enough players to field a team.
In an email to The Evening Enterprise, Joiner pointed to the leadership of the more experienced players that has made the 2024 season possible.
“They knuckled down and recruited a few more players just as school was starting and that’s allowed us to have a full team,” he wrote in Sunday’s email.
Seniors Paige Miller (center back) and Morgan Kendall (forward) head the list of returnees from last year’s 1-12 campaign.
Also returning are juniors Mary Jane Joiner (center back), Zuleika Nava (forward) and Delilah Markovic (midfielder) and sophomore Jane Cleary (midfielder).
Newcomers are junior Savanna Reynolds (fullback), sophomore Sophie Cousineau (goalkeeper) and freshmen Ashlynn Elborn (forward), Emy Karlik (midfielder) and Reese Strong (fullback).
Cousineau lettered in cross country last year.
Just showing up for practice every day when there are so few players is demanding, physically as well as mentally, coach Joiner acknowledged.
“But the girls have really stepped up to meet that challenge with a lot of positive energy,” he said.
Joiner and assistant Joel Tolbert represent the Trojans’ third slate of coaches in as many years.
As a new coaching staff, Joiner said, “We’ve had to lean on the leadership of the more experienced players and they’ve done an outstanding job of welcoming in the younger girls, helping them make the transition to high school sports and demonstrating the commitment that we expect from every player.”
In turn, the newbies have shown their commitment to improving their individual skills and immediately stepping into starting roles.
As a team, Joiner said, the players “have put an emphasis on truly working together and improving their communication on and off the pitch. We want them to be a team that supports one another through the good times and the tough times, and they are rising to meet that expectation.”
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Joiner is assistant head of school at Radcliffe Creek School in Chestertown.
He is a 1995 KCHS graduate who excelled in football and lacrosse.
The father of four, including current KCHS athletes Mary Jane and Quinten (golf), Joiner is a longtime youth sports coach of various sports — lacrosse, football and basketball, as well as soccer.
Most of his soccer coaching experience has been at the middle school level.
Tolbert, the pastor at Presbyterian Church of Chestertown, has extensive soccer experience as a player, coach, referee and fan of the sport.
Tolbert’s “passion really shines through in everything he does with the team,” Joiner said of his colleague. “I’m grateful that he is sharing his depth of knowledge and expertise. The team is much better for it.”
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KCHS was defeated by shutout in its season opener Friday at Cambridge.
The first home match is 4 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 11 against North Dorchester.