The Westside girls soccer team is running full speed into the 2026 spring season with high hopes. The girls ended their 2025 season with a record of 9-8 and looking to take it all the way this season. The girls have started up practices as their first game is Thursday March 19 vs Millard south. Head coach Nathan May talks about how he has been getting the girls ready for their upcoming season.
“We have been just trying to get together, build relationships, play as much as possible, and get some work done. Pre season conditioning is always difficult to really capture the tone of what we want the team to be but the girls have done a great job building connections as much as we can in the limited time we have together with limited instruction from the coaches,” May said.
Senior Hailey Potter has been a huge contributor to the team, guiding the younger girls through each game, and keeping the energy positive on the field. Potter talks about how the team has been preparing for their upcoming season off the field to ensure they maintain a team bond.
“The team had gotten really close over the season last year, and with only adding a couple new girls to our roster it has been easy to get back to the closeness we had last year. To keep this bond we go out to team dinners and do team outings, ” Potter said.
The varsity team consists of 9 seniors this season, most of which have been on the team since they were freshman. Coach May talks about the bond he sees between these seniors and what they bring to the team.
“The seniors are a very close group. We have 9 seniors on the team and many of them are exceptionally close and have played together or gone to school together for a long time, there is a big bond within the senior class,” May said, “ Our senior class has been through some high highs in the program and some very low lows, so they know what it takes, they know what kind of team they want to be and their attitude is infectious with the younger players.”
Senior Luci Procter has been a huge part of the team since she was a freshman, she talks about the new players on the team and what she thinks adding them to the team will contribute.
“I am super excited about the new talent we have on the team this year. The new players contribute so much hard work in practice and are always lifting others up which is so important during such a short and packed season. The talent they have is inspiring to me and all the upperclassmen and we are so excited to play alongside them. They will not only contribute so much with their talent, but also with their encouraging and hardworking personalities,” Procter said.
With the team being a very senior lead team compared to last season, Potter talks about what the team’s strengths and weaknesses are for the upcoming season.
“Strengths is that we are a returning roster of 18 players and are all very comfortable and close to each other. A weakness this season is that we have a couple of players coming back from injuries, but we have a strong enough team to make up for it, and we are there to support each of them on their journey back on the field, ” Potter said.
Soccer is a hard sport to play not only physically but mentally, Procter talks about how the girls have been preparing mentally for the upcoming season.
“ We have been preparing mentally by focusing on setting the standard from the beginning of pre-season conditioning. We know that the season is hard mentally and physically so we are doing all we can during the time we don’t have games to make sure we are prepared to succeed. We also have been doing a lot of team bonding outside of practices because we are super close as a team and have seen how that helps us succeed, especially as the season progresses,” Procter said.
Coach May has not only been working to make sure that the girls are ready for the season but also himself. He talks about how he has been preparing himself for the upcoming season.
“ We have been working very hard these last couple weeks. This 3 week period is the most time we have to train all season so we have been trying to fit in a lot of tactical information, training standards, building relationships, and building fitness through playing all in a relatively short time frame. The girls are handling it so well and we hope to attack the rest of this week and next week with games on the horizon,” May said.
After the rocky season the girls had last year with a record of 9-8, they have goals set that they are aiming to reach. Coach May talks about what some of the team’s goals for the season are.
“We haven’t set a lot of outcome goals as a group. I think as far as process goals go we just want to do the absolute best we can day in and day out. Giving our honest best will get us where we need to be, Last year we missed out on state, while disappointing the sentiment with the group was that we gave everything we worked for each other, so we want to continue that and hopefully get an outcome we can be proud of and leave no regrets out there, ” May said.
There are a lot of challenges coming the teams way this upcoming season, Procter talks about what she sees being the hardest challenge for the girls.
“I see the hardest challenge for us being just the length and challenge that comes with this season. We have some pretty tough opponents and also the season itself is tough. I can just see the mental challenges and the physical challenges that come with multiple games a week being a huge challenge, ” Procter said.
The team has been putting their all into every practice to ensure they reach the goals they have set for themselves. Coach May talks about what practice has looked like these past few weeks.
“A lot of information, and high standards. We have a very qualified staff, we have clear ideas on how we feel we can maximize the players talents and strengths, we have high standards and expectations for the players in our context. So we are trying to get a lot in place while really trying to foster an environment that the players want to work hard and want to be invested because that is the only way to give us a chance to get the results we want. The girls are handling it all really well, we have thrown a lot at them to be fair, ” May said.
The girls will kick off their 2026 season with a home opener vs Millard south on Thursday March 19.
