Carolyn McLeod surveyed the carpeted hockey rink known as Philergos Field and uttered: “This is not a bad problem to have.”
The problem she mentioned involves the 36 players trying out for 20 available roster spots on Cochrane High School’s boys soccer team.
The Cobras began tryouts April 12 at Spray Lake Sawmills Family Sports Centre’s indoor soccer facility, where Grade 9-12 boys were scrimmaging for McLeod and fellow coach Jason Petrovich as they assess their deep talent pool. Some of the names included junior-varsity boys basketball players Ethan Forrest and Spencer Marchand, senior boys hoopster Milton Singeris and wrestling gold-medallist Aidan McKeage.
She lost the bulk of her boys team to graduation last year. Five players are returning, just one in Grade 12.
“The interest is huge,” McLeod understated as the team’s opening tryout session wrapped up. “The thing that did surprise me is how many are good.
“We always have lots of guys, and a lot of them may not be that great. Or they may be a little tentative. These guys were all working hard and hustling.”
She’ll have another indoor session to assess players before Spring Break. Following the break she’ll have an outdoor session after which she expects to have her team chosen for Rocky View Sports Association play beginning in May.
Along with assessing skills, McLeod adds: “We’re watching their attitudes and how they interact with each other and how they interact with us.”
But it’s never easy selecting the final roster.
“It’s always hard to do it,” McLeod admitted. “Will we make mistakes? Possibly. We try to do the best we can. We may err on the side of a longer bench.”
