The Armuchee High School soccer team won the state playoffs for the first time ever on May 13, 2025 at McEachern High School in Powder Springs Georgia. The team was led by Coach Park. This is Coach Park’s third year of coaching. In Coach Park’s first year of coaching, the soccer team placed third in region. Coach Park has kept the momentum and has delivered a championship. With next year coming around, Coach Park said, ”I am ready to coach next season; I am excited to coach my players from last year and some of the new freshmen as I think we will be very good the upcoming season.” Coach Park is ready to face the competition that is in the near future being the 2025-2026 season. With the team prepared for the ups and downs to come in the near future, they are ready for the season and the wins that will come with it.
The team faced many challenges and obstacles throughout the 24-25 season. These obstacles made the road to victory difficult, but the team faced the challenges head to head and ended up with the victory. Seeing last year’s rough competition, Sebastian Castro, senior, said, “Competition with the other teams and ourselves were difficult in the beginning. The loss against Fannon and Trion brought the realization of the championship dream, making us better as a team.¨ With a record of fifteen wins and five losses, the team really took those losses and turned them into lessons. The team was really responsive after a loss. Logan Watson, a sophomore, said, ¨We used the other team’s tactics to find their own weaknesses and get better at them.¨ The team used strategy and off-the-field tactics to improve the team’s skill and make everyone better at all the things they do.
Everybody contributed to the team in different ways, containing aspects of their gameplay that others do not have. For example, different players will have different communication strength, speed, and game sense. Sebastian is strong at defense and not letting anybody through, and Gabe is strong at sprinting and finishing. These are just some of the aspects that make a good team. When asked about how his teammates contributed to the victory, Sebastian Castro said, “We had skill, strength, speed, heart, and the compassion to win. Having all the aspects of being a great team leading us to winning the championship.” With this, many saw the team work really hard and well together whether it was practicing everyday to be able to perform at the highest level under the lights, or if it was supporting each other when they make mistakes.
They put in work at the school grounds, but putting in the minimum amount of work/training does not make great teams. Putting the extra work in and putting in those extra hours is what makes the difference. Emilio Hernandez said, “We worked really hard even before the season started to be able to build that bond and chemistry between us, learning the different skills each player had and were able to pull off.” Coaches are also a big aspect to a great team, being the backbone of the team most say, leading practices and telling players what to do and when to do it. Many of the players concur that to have a good team, you need a good coach. Coach Park said, “I was not the decider of how hard they worked. I was more of a guideline to what they needed to learn because I’m not going to force anybody to work harder or to do everything they can. I’m going to let them decide how much they want to work based on that dream of winning.” Coach Park is very straightforward as mentioned, so he is doing what is best for the team and to bring another trophy home.
Ready for next season with upcoming freshmen, new seniors, new competition, and a new mindset, Coach Park said, “I’m excited to coach next season with my team. I think we can do very well like we did last year.” The players are ready, the coach is ready, and the school is ready to see what the soccer team can do this year with the expectations held high.
