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By Chris Lachenmaier
Sports Editor
IG: @chrissylach
The Hutchinson Community College women’s soccer team is off to a 5-1-1 start, with freshman Poppy Smith leading the attack, scoring in four games and tallying six goals.
Blue Dragons coach Sammy Lane, who is the only soccer coach in the school’s history, said Smith visited several schools before settling on HutchCC
“I got an email from Poppy’s parents with a link to her video, and obviously the video was really really impressive,” Lane said. “And that just started the whole recruiting process. She visited a few schools in Oklahoma and a couple in Kansas. But lucky for us, Poppy chose us in the end.”
Smith, a native of Royston, England, has been enjoying soccer in the United States.
“I think it is a much better life out here,” Smith said. “I don’t mind the criticism. Coach is hard on me, but most things he says are right. He’s hard on me, but it means he cares for me, and all I want to do is get better. So when he’s shouting, I take it as a positive thing and not a negative thing.”
Smith is all about winning for her teammates and her coach.
“I love winning. I love to win,” Smith said. “I wake up every morning, and I’m like, I want to win that game. I want to do good training for Sammy. and the girls as well.”
Lane said he tries to challenge the players daily.
“I think our biggest thing is to try to make practices hard as possible, and as competitive as possible, so then when it comes to games those are easier,” Lane said.
The intensity is needed with a conference with a lot of competition and top-caliber teams, like Cowley, Garden City, Butler and Barton.But Lane is along for the ride.
“When you play someone like Cowley or someone like Butler, the intensity of the game is totally different than some other games we play during the season,” Lane said.
But what has kept the team together the most is the bonding.
“The American kids have been great to our international kids, taking them home for Thanksgiving and Spring Break,” Lane said. “The bonding issue here has been really good, we’ve also got kids going to Ireland from Kansas, to visit their friends from teammates that have played here.”
The Blue Dragons next play on Saturday at Garden City.
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