West Side Story: What can you do to prepare in the off-season as a player? 

Zachary Serovy, West High girls soccer head coach: “One of the biggest things that they can do is just put in work on their own time. Our season is only three months out of the year, and if they’re only touching a soccer ball for those three months, or only running for those three months, they’re not going to be as ready as they want to be come spring break and the week after. So I think one of the biggest things that they can do is get touches on a soccer ball and run in the remaining nine months of the year, so they’re ready to go once spring break comes.” 

WSS: Are there any essential workouts you recommend?

ZS: “There’s not really anything specific in terms of like, they need to do this workout to be ready, but they should be trying to get some lifting in. They should be getting some running, for sure, and then again, just some touches on the ball. So whether that’s individual ball skills, if they can go out with a partner and do some passing, however, they can get work in themselves again, either with a partner and a couple teammates or on their own is best.”

WSS: When are the tryouts? 

ZS: “So the tryouts are officially the week after spring break. So it’ll be kind of that Monday, and then Tuesday, if we need that, we’ll have the official tryout. But practices do start spring break, so we’ll have a conditioning session in the morning, and then in the afternoon, we’ll have practice. So it’ll be a lot of playing and just putting them in different situations, just to get to know the players better and to see where they’re at and what we need to work on going into the season and after tryouts.”

WSS: Do you have any advice for someone looking to join?

 ZS: “Yeah, the biggest advice is definitely get your fitness in, and try to study the game and learn the game as best as you can, too. So watch some soccer, play some soccer again, go out with your teammates and get some touches on the ball, and then try and learn the rules as best as you can. And we’ll kind of help you along the way.”

WSS: Do you have any predictions for how this season is going to go?

ZS: “That’s a loaded question, but I am very optimistic on how the season is going to go. I think we have a very good team coming into the year, we have a lot of good players returning, and then we have a lot of good freshmen and new players coming in as well. So I think it’s going to be a little bit more competitive to make the varsity roster this year than maybe it has been in years past. So I’m very optimistic going into the season on how the team looks and the things I’m seeing in our open gyms. I’m very optimistic for this year.”

WSS: What are your goals for this season?

ZS: “The main goal is always to make the state tournament. That’s kind of the all-encompassing goal. But for me, the goals are to one, help the girls improve on the field, so as long as they are improving throughout the year, I’m fine with that, but then also help them off the field as well, hopefully teach them some life skills as well that they’ll use in their future careers and their academic careers, whatever that’s going to look like. So just learning every day and getting better every day are kind of my main goals for the season, and then making the state tournament is kind of the big goal there.”

WSS: How many teams are you planning on having this year? 

ZS: “We’re planning on having three teams, so varsity, junior varsity one and junior varsity two. So we are [hoping] the numbers are looking a little bit better than last year, so we’re hoping that we’ll have enough players to have that JV two team this year, which a lot of teams in Iowa are, or don’t have JV two teams anymore. So to be able to have a JV two team this year is very, very encouraging, and I’m really excited to have that third team this year.” 

WSS: Can you still join soccer if you play other sports during the spring season?

ZS: “We encourage you to work with your coaches and then reach out to me as well, but I am more than happy to work with you. If you have other sports that you’re playing, or if you have other commitments like work. We can work with you to make it work and we’d love to have you come out, even if you do have other things going on during the spring. Obviously, life happens. I understand that people are focused on soccer, or not. Not everybody, I guess, is focused on soccer 100% of the time. So yeah, we’ll work with you on your schedule. If you want to run track, we’ll try and work with you and work with the track coach. If you have club basketball, club volleyball, or whatever it may be, we’ll try and work with softball, whatever the case is. We’ll see what we can do and try to make it work as best as we can.”

WSS: What does a typical practice look like for your team? 

ZS: “A typical practice is kind of broken down into a few different groups. Obviously, the first part would be to warm up, making sure that we’re getting ready to play and to put our body through a little bit of stress. And then we’ll move into some kind of technical work, some passing things like that. And then we’ll move into maybe a couple drills, and then we’ll try and play at the end in some capacity. So that’s kind of our four main points of practice. And then at the end, we’ll have a little bit of a cool down, and we will get some stretching in and stuff like that, just to make sure that we’re taking care of our bodies as we’re going through a very rigorous season.” 

WSS: As a coach, how do you view the relationship between school and sport?

ZS: “Very important. I believe that you have to put your academics first. And I also believe that having that other responsibility other than just soccer, does help you in the future as well, because you have to make sure that you’re getting stuff done off the field and doing that stuff the right way. And that’ll help you build good habits on the field as well, and make sure you’re training the right way, make sure you’re taking care of your body the right way. So I think they go hand in hand and translate very well.” 

WSS: How are you preparing the team to take on harder competitors? 

ZS: “We have a very tough schedule this year. One of the biggest things is, again, just asking that they do stuff outside of the season as well, since our preseason is only about two weeks, and realistically, one of those weeks is spring break, so a lot of players are going to be gone. They’re only going to have one week to get ready as a team for our first game, which is against Ankeny Centennial, one of the better teams in the state. So getting the work in now in the winter and early into the spring, before spring break starts, that’s going to be hugely important to be able to compete at the level we want to in that first game against Ankeny Centennial.” 

WSS: How do people join soccer? Are there websites they have to go to? 

ZS: “So there’s a website called BoundIowa, so that is kind of the all-encompassing sports website now. So you need to register through Bound and make sure that you have an updated physical on or uploaded every year. And those are kind of the two big steps to getting registered for soccer. Even if you’ve played another sport, you still have to register through Bound.

And the other thing is, we do have a parent meeting. We have a parent meeting Thursday, March 6, at 5:30 pm in the Little Theater at West, and that would be the other thing to keep in mind when wanting to sign up for soccer, trying to get to that parent meeting. And then another thing you can do is just email me. My email’s on the website, and then if you need [my email], you can get it from the athletic office as well, but email me and I’ll get you added to the email list. That way you can get all the information. “

WSS: This year you’re trying out for the girls soccer team, correct? What is your position in soccer? 

Vera Tanas ’25: “I generally play center back, which is like the back line. I have some experience playing a holding midfielder, which is like more of a defensive midfielder, but center back is definitely my favorite position.” 

WSS: How long have you played that position? 

VT: “I think I’ve been playing [center back] since my freshman year. So this is year four of playing center back.” 

WSS: How do you feel as a senior trying out? 

VT: “Oh, I’m really excited. It’s hard because I am excited for the season, but I’m also a little bit sad because I know it’s my last one at West, and I know it’s my last one with some of the people that I’ve been playing with for a really long time, but I’m really excited to play the teams we get to play this year. I’m excited to play with my sister. She’s gonna be a freshman this year, so I’m really hopeful that I’ll get to play with her this year. So that’s exciting.”

WSS: How long have you been playing soccer? 

VT: “Soccer in general, I’ve been playing for a long time. This is like year 13 of club [soccer]. Yeah, so long time. It’s a big part of my life.”

WSS: What are your hopes for this season? 

VT: “I really hope that we’ll be able to connect as a team and go far this year. We have a strong schedule, which I am really excited about, to challenge ourselves against some really good teams, but I really want us to be able to connect as a team and see how well we can do. I have high hopes.” 

WSS: What are your hopes for team dynamics? 

VT: “I want to make sure that [anyone new] to the team feels really comfortable and welcomed. I want to make sure that we can all connect well, because having a good team dynamic off the field, I feel like really presents itself on the field, like being able to have good relationships with each other helps you play better, so that’s one of my major hopes.”

WSS: Have you done anything to prepare for the season? 

VT: “Just generally, playing club, making sure I’ve still been lifting weights, running, making sure I’m properly conditioned for the season. It is a big change going from club, where we would just play on the weekends, maybe one or two games, and then indoor, when we just play like maybe one or two short games on the weekends, to when we go to school and play multiple times in the middle of the week, and we have practice every day. So just making sure my body’s in the right place to be able to go back and do that.” 

WSS: Are you in any other sports or activities? 

VT: “I don’t do any other sports outside of soccer, I am the Student Government secretary. I volunteer at my church’s youth group. I coach youth soccer as well through my club soccer team, but that’s mostly it. Soccer and school are the main parts of my life.” 

WSS: Do you have to balance that a lot? 

VT: “Oh yeah. I was actually just talking about this at my practice last night. It’s hard, because sometimes you have to decide whether to get in an extra soccer practice, or whether you would like to get some extra time to study or do your homework. So sometimes that can be a little bit difficult, especially if you have a lot of tests in a week. Sometimes you have to miss a practice or two, but still make sure you make your requirements. That’s hard because I want to be the best I can be at soccer, but I also want to be the best I can be at school. So balancing those can be hard sometimes, but I’m really grateful to have the opportunity to do so.”

WSS: Is there anything else you want to share? 

VT: “Play soccer, go out for soccer. It’s a great team, we’re great people. It’s a really fun sport to play. Team Sports are just a really cool thing to try, even if you’ve never played before. We have fantastic coaches and fantastic people who are totally willing to help you out and answer any questions you have.”