Two of the most competitive club sports – men’s and women’s soccer – are finally getting ready to begin the new season. The men’s club soccer team, which had an undefeated spring season and the women’s club soccer team are both conducting tryouts, building their teams in order to again challenge for top honors this season.

Richard Mallory, senior and captain of the men’s team, acknowledged the specific type of players they seek while conducting tryouts.

“We look for a high level of play,” Mallory said. “A lot of players out here have played varsity [in high school]. Sadly, we don’t look at any experience of players that are trying to kick around. We have been ranked nationally over the last couple of years, so it’s almost varsity level of play.”

Ally Mitchell, senior and vice president of the women’s club soccer team, kept her recruiting strategy simple.

“We are looking for players that are competitive and dedicated,” Mitchell said.

Both Mitchell and Mallory are excited at the prospect of playing different tournaments in the upcoming semester, many of which have now become annual events for both teams.

“We are planning on going to Virginia Tech, which is the tournament we go to every year,” Mitchell said. “We also plan on going to the regional soccer tournament in South Carolina this year, and that is a big tournament for every team in our region.”

“We are in the Southeast [Collegiate] Soccer Alliance with Clemson, Coastal Carolina, Duke, and Chapel Hill,” Mallory said. “We go to Clemson and play in a soccer tournament there, and then we have a regional tournament from where you qualify for the nationals in Phoenix.”

Mallory highlighted the impact the club team had on the lives of the players at the holistic level.

“Club soccer is great because it’s almost like a fraternity. I hang out with the guys I play with, we are great friends, we are traveling together, spending lots of time together,” Mallory said. “It looks great on the resume, we participate in community service and we do fundraising. So there are more aspects than just playing. It is a group thing. We work together to do a lot of different stuff.”

With both of the club teams now being able to practice on the Method Road fields, Mitchell felt very positive about the change.

“The field conditions are so much better than the Miller fields,” she said. “The Miller fields were like a dust bowl, we were playing on dirt.”

Mallory expressed his gratitude toward club sports and expressed the strong relationship they shared with his team.

“They got us the field. What else do we need? We work really well with club sports, they do a lot for us,” Mallory said. “We had budget cuts, which has hurt us a lot. We have had to pay a lot more from our pockets, but other than that we work very well with administration.”

Savannah Grandy , a freshman in life science and one of the many that attended tryouts, seemed excited about the prospect of playing for the club.

“Soccer has always been a big part of my life and I want to keep it that way,” Grandy said. “It would mean a lot to me to be part of the team because even in just playing around with the girls I can tell how it is so important to them. They are all very good players and I know I would become a better player by playing with them.”

Grandy was also optimistic about getting to know the current players.

“Hopefully, they can help me, as they have already been in my shoes as a freshman trying to adjust to the college life and new responsibilities,” Grandy said.

However, Grandy also had some reservations about joining the team because of the time commitment.

“I don’t want playing soccer to distract me from my studies,” Grandy said. “Hopefully, I will learn to balance my time better through playing. I wanted to try out to see how it goes and whether it will be right for me this year.”

Sevket Imamoglu , an international student from Turkey, tried out as well.

“In Turkey we play as a team. But here they play more individually, not as a team,” Imamoglu said. “So in the trials I couldn’t play my best as we make more passes in my team in Turkey.”

Imamoglu also felt that as an international student who has played a lot of soccer before, the members of the club team weren’t particularly excited to have him.

“They were good,” Imamoglu said, “but I can’t say they encouraged me to join.”

The men’s and the women’s club teams currently practice on the Method Road fields between 5 and 9 p.m . Mondays and Wednesdays.