2011 Bulldogs: Bigger And Better Team

DAYTON - This season, Dayton soccer coach D.J. Frame wants the league to know the members of his team are ready to step up their game and compete against the best.

"We're not just the new guys," Frame said. "We've got to be competitive now."

Last year, the Bulldogs didn't fare too well in league play. Out of 14 games, Frame said his team won one, tied two and lost 11.

Last year, Frame's fourth year coaching the team, was focused on building the program. But, this year is going to be different.

Frame said the team has grown from 18 players last year to 27 this year. Five of his players are girls and a whopping 15 are returners. The team is fairly young, with its freshmen totaling nine. The Bulldogs also have five sophomores, five juniors and seven seniors.

Frame did lose a key senior on last year's team, Davy Phillips. He said Phillips' skills will be missed, but this year's team has more depth and more good players, so it won't have to rely on just one key player, he said.

By Frame's side are assistant coaches Jeff McCowen and Jerry Dedloff, who helped him last year as well.

Part of the reason his team is more well-rounded this year is the initiative it took to practice on its own over the summer. Frame said his players organized themselves to play together and that hard work and dedication is paying off. He said his team is in better shape physically and is handling the ball better than ever. Now, he said he has "higher expectations" than before for his team.

"This group on its own spent a lot of time playing," Frame said. "They're learning it takes more than just practice time."

Frame said three key players to watch this year are Gabe Garcia, Blake Powell and Adam Strohbehn. This group was instrumental in encouraging the team to take their skills to the next level.

"We're expecting a lot out of them this year," he said.

Because of its win-loss record last year, Frame said the team to beat this year is nearly each team in the league.

"For us, everybody," he joked.

His players talk the most about challenging Waitsburg- Prescott and St. George. It would be a real confidence booster to beat those teams. It had a close game with Walla Walla Valley Academy last year, so the players are excited to take them on this season.

To get ready for league play, the team is focusing on ball handling, Frame said. The team just returned from three days at Camp Wooten where it spent time focusing on the fundamentals of game play and emphasized teambuilding.

"We've got to get the fundamentals down before we try other things," he said.

McCowen said this young team will be trying to get lots of touches on the ball first to get comfortable and then will work on its team concept second.

Mostly, Frame is just enjoying his time with the large group this year.

"They are a great group of kids to be around," he said.

The team's first appearance on the field is a jamboree on Sept. 7 at home.