By Jordan Burton (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
A reformatted conference and new coach brings plenty of excitement to a McDonald County program eager to change the culture.
New head coach John de la Torre will be the man pushing the team towards building a winning culture.
Torre takes over the program after graduating from Evangel University in May 2018, noting that this will be his first head coaching job.
McDonald County returns a roster with plenty of experience, featuring six starters and eight letterwinners. Seniors should lead the way for the Lady Mustangs.
“Seniors Ava Smith and Karen Gasca will lead the way,” said Torre. “Their talent and work ethic will play a huge role in helping shape this year’s team. Along with Ava and Karen, fellow seniors, Nikki Salas, Baylee Payne, and Gelen Reyes have come into this season with a great attitude and a willingness to lead this team on and off the field.”
Torre is excited about having so much senior leadership, but he is also excited about giving everyone a fresh start to earn roles on this year’s team. Including underclassmen, everyone will control their own destiny to start the season.
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“As a first year head coach, every player on this team will be a newcomer,” said Torre. “Throughout the offseason we have obviously had players stick out more than others, but every single player will have a chance to start on a clean slate and impress this coaching staff and make a new impact coming into this season.”
McDonald County’s past doesn’t change Torre’s approach in terms of what he wants to get out of his players. It’s something that’s bigger than soccer. He, along with McDonald County Athletics as a whole, are more concerned with building more complete student-athletes.
“Our athletic department as a whole here at MCHS pride ourselves on instilling the three core values of character, commitment, and competitiveness into our programs,” said Torre. “Being able to teach these girls about these three values and their individual importance will help us to continue to create and shape a new culture in our soccer program and all athletics here at McDonald County High School.”
Torre is excited about the opportunity to build a winner on the pitch too and the expansion of the Big 8 Conference will make that more difficult with an even stronger schedule coming. However, that could lead to more success come playoff time.
“I believe adding strong teams to our conference schedule will only help to prepare us and to help us grow,” said Torre. “Being able to play stronger teams and gain that experience during the regular season will push us to be better when we begin our district tournament.
“Success for this program will come from implementing our core principles of character, commitment, and competitiveness. Regardless of what happens with this team on the field or in terms of wins and losses, we will look to succeed in areas of growth that will affect these players off the field and in their careers and lives outside of High School.”
McDonald County will open the 2019 season on the road against New Covenant on March 21. The Lady Mustangs will play their home-opener on March 25 against Cassville.
