By Drew Terhall

Dailyadvocate.com

GREENVILLE — After different venue changes, the Greenville boys and girls soccer programs still got to host their Alumni Day on July 27 at the field behind Greenville High School.

Greenville girls soccer head coach John Tabler said all summer long, the programs had to adjust due to the tornado damage affecting Harmon Field and the school having to get the Jennings Complex ready for the season.

However, they were still able to find the time and place to bring back the alumni to play against the high school team. Something the late girls soccer head coach Dave Ernst believed in during his time with the program.

“It’s an honor to do it. It’s something Dave put forth. He believed in getting the alumni back. Take that tradition and continue to move it forward because of him is such an honor for me,” Tabler said.

The boys team took on the boys alumni team to start the day. Both teams competed hard as the alumni came away with a close win over the high school team, 4-2.

First year Greenville boys soccer head coach Brad Feldner said this event is more about the kids getting to meet up with the alumni and using what they worked on in practice to use in a game setting.

“It gives them the first opportunity to work on what we’ve been working on coming up to the season. It gives us an opportunity to see where we need to improve,” Feldner said.

The boys program will return a bulk of their team along with adding some new additions. Feldner said this season the boys and the girls soccer programs are working on a few things to get more excitement at the soccer matches. The boys team is working on building a new culture and are still looking for more players to join the squad.

“Coach Wright and I are looking at developing a new culture. We got a bit higher numbers than what we did last year, but we’re still looking to getting some more out. If anybody wants to play, we’re happy to have them come out,” Feldner said.

After the boys game, the Darke County Soccer Association played an exhibition game before the girls team took the field. They played at last year’s alumni event as well.

Then the girls team took the field against the Alumni team. In a physical game, the Alumni came away with a 2-0 win. The Lady Wave had their chances, but couldn’t get one shot to go in.

Tabler said it was a great to not only see the fans come out and show their support for the team, but it was also great to see his team come out and compete well.

“To have this and still see fans was so exciting. With the girls, we were really happy with their play tonight. We’re in a much better position than we thought we would be,” Tabler said.

Tabler said the team will have 16 returning players with about nine freshmen joining the program.

He is excited to officially start the season and continue on with practices. If the team can focus on improving each day, they will find themselves in a good spot at the end of the season.

“Not going to put an expectation on anything right now. The rule has been with some of the girls is get one percent better each practice. If they can do that, I would say we we’re going to be in a really good place by the end of the season,” Tabler said.

The first day of Fall Sports is on August 1 with the first day of games starting on August 16.

Contact Daily Advocate sports editor Drew Terhall at [email protected].