Spartans aim to get better every day

EDITOR'S NOTE: As of press time, high school sports have been postponed indefinitely due to the new coronavirus.

The Mountain Brook High School boys soccer team wants to get better every day, and not just on the field. While the Spartans aim to win and compete for championships soon, their goal is to improve in every aspect.

“My goal is to take a bunch of people and make them that much better,” head coach Joe Webb said. “If I take every individual and make them that much better, the team gets better. I don’t mean better always on the field. Better in the classroom, to their classmates and walking the halls. There’s more to it than this.”

Webb said he’s been coaching senior Pirmin Blattmann for five-plus years, and the fun of watching the players is rewarding for him. Blattmann, who is a captain on this year’s team, echoed that getting better each day is the key to ultimately win the top prize.

“Our goal as a team is to win a state championship,” he said. “Obviously, it’s just perform every single game, every single practice, show up on time, hydrate, eat well and make sure your grades are there. Without your grades, you can’t play, and that’s most important. We are student-athletes, not athlete-students.”

This idea from Webb starts with the captains and senior leaders on the team. Blattmann said before Mountain Brook’s home game against Sparkman on Feb. 17, he arrived early to put the flags up, sand and seed the field and make sure the benches and stands were clean for the other team and fans coming to watch them play.

He said normally those kinds of tasks would be passed to the younger guys, but this year’s leaders wanted to take this upon themselves to show the underclassmen how to set standards. Freshman Jack Heaps, who has taken on a big role for the Spartans, said the senior leaders have been helpful early in the season.

“Our captains, this year, have been excellent role models for us younger guys,” he said.

Webb said he was worried about his team entering the season because of its youth. But Mountain Brook started its 2020 campaign 7-3-3. While there’s still some cause for concern on the offensive end, the Spartans defense has risen to the challenge in the early going.

Webb and his players see what has to improve to get to the top.

“We were really nervous coming into the season,” he said. “We graduated all four seniors in the backline and our number one backup. To replace all of that and our top goalkeeper, we were a little nervous. But the defense has come along a little quicker than we expected. It’s the attack that’s still a work in progress.”

Blattmann said the attack isn’t as lethal as last season, but the team is continuing to work on that part of its game.

“We have a young team up front with two freshmen starting,” he said. “Our attack has died down from last year, but we’re just pushing every single game. It might be 1-0 win or a 2-0 win. But we just keep pushing, and the goals will come with shots.”