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“We want to dominate!” the boys varsity soccer co-captain and senior sweeper Zack Deutsch-Gross said.
However, the boys don’t just want to win the city championship this year for themselves. They want to win it for their coach.
After 44 years of coaching varsity soccer, coach Ernst Feibusch has decided to make the ‘09-‘10 season his last at Lowell.
Feibusch, a founding member of the San Francisco Junior Soccer League and the California Youth Soccer Association, has coached numerous soccer teams since 1952, including the San Francisco Vikings. In 1955, he began teaching at Lowell waiting for the opportunity to coach Lowell soccer in 1966. “Coaching these guys is very exasperating,” Feibusch said. “But it keeps us young.”
Seniors Safa Mannah and Anthony Clay watch junior Leo Harrington out-run an out-matched San Rafael defender in a 1-0 Cardinal victory in a scrimmage on Sept. 2 (Cassandra Liu) |
Although winning the championship is always a major goal for Feibusch, he was motivated to take an active role in building the sport in San Francisco for “the good of the game.” Feibusch hopes that some of the athletes he has coached at Lowell will follow his example helping to build the game of soccer. “I hope that some of them take up the game as decent coaches and decent human beings who are confident, strong mentally and physically, and contribute to society.” he said.
Feibusch brings a lot of experience to the game and is responsible for making Lowell soccer the intimidating force that it is, according to junior left midfielder Leo Harrington. “He really has a passion for soccer.” he said, “He loves it. We all want to win the championship for him really badly.”
This goal is something that is very attainable for the Cardinals this season if they keep up their hard work. “We’ve been doing a lot of conditioning and running; that prepares us and shows in games,” Harrington said.
In addition to improving their fitness, the team has also been trying new formations, implemented by new coach Marco Estevez, who will be replacing Feibusch next year. According to junior center midfielder Carlos Valadez, “We play more organized soccer; the new formations and tactics are working.”
The team has to acclimate to the changes that come with getting a new coach. “The changes are for the better; more talented, organized teams play the formation. He (Estevez) is very organized in practice so it shouldn’t be too hard to adjust,” senior forward Safa Mannah said.
On Sept. 10, the Cardinals dominated the Burton Pumas winning 6-0. “It was our best game so far and we were pretty confident. Our offense was clicking pretty well and our defense shut them out.” Mannah said.
On Sept. 9, the boys started off their AAA season shutting out the Galileo Lions 7-0. Mannah and sophomore forward Jesus Sanchez each scored three goals with another goal tacked on by sophomore midfielder Camilo Grabowski. This was a confidence boosting season opener, as the Lions prevented the Cardinals from moving past the playoffs last year for the fourth year in a row, defeating them with a score of 1-4 after penalty kicks.
In their last pre-season game on Sept. 4, the Cardinals played Sonoma County High School with the stands packed. The Cardinals were dominant on defense until Sonoma got past them in the first half, scoring the only goal of the game and defeating the Cardinals 0-1.
Support the Cardinals at their next game at 3:45pm on Sept. 22 at Balboa as they face off against the Balboa Buccaneers.
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