SOCIAL CIRCLE, Ga. — Soccer season for the Social Circle Redskins will begin on Feb. 1 when both teams travel to Cedar Shoals to take on the Jaguars. 

Be that as it may, both Redskins squads already had a warmup in their scrimmages on Jan. 21 versus Southwest Dekalb. 

The Lady Redskins won in mercy-rule fashion 11-1 and the boys team won in the same way with a 10-0 victory. 

Now, both teams set their sights on the regular season. 

Lady Redskins

Head coach Heather Richardson enters her fourth year at the helm of the Lady Redskins with taking a year off in between. Though Richardson’s now four years removed from her initial arrival in Social Circle, the 2022 team gives her a flashback to her first year on the scene. 

Back in 2017, the Lady Redskins advanced all the way to the state semi-finals.

Richardson sees glimpses that this year’s team can go even farther than 2017.

“This team is definitely in that same caliber,” Richardson said. “I have very high hopes for this team. We have a lot of seniors this year that have created an atmosphere of coming out and working hard. They’re not out here to just have fun, they’re out here to win.” 

Some of those seniors have already received recognition before the season’s first kickoff. 

Tess Preston, Peyton Brooks, Taylor Wright, Morgan Chambers, Kaylee Connell, Olivia Cross and Rory Stowe were all featured on the Georgia High School Soccer Preseason All-State team for Class A-Public. 

Richardson commended these seven players for their spots on the preseason team. 

“They’re great players,” Richardson said. “They work hard and are leaders out here. So, we have a very competitive mindset and it’s good they’re getting recognized for that before the season even starts.” 

Now, with the season on the horizon, the Lady Redskins are preparing for a long, 18-match schedule ahead. 

Their season will commence this next week beginning on the road at Cedar Shoals in Athens on Feb. 1. 

Then, in-county rival Monroe Area comes to town Friday, Feb. 4, to finish out the first week of the 2022 season. 

Redskins

A regular season for soccer comes with a lot of grueling, tough matchups each season. 

Every year, teams prepare for the full slate of games ahead as the season draws near. 

For Social Circle, head coach Jim Corasaniti feels like his team’s comradery will help carry the Redskins through the upcoming 2022 season. 

“I think our biggest strength is playing together as a team,” Corasaniti said. “This group of players has been playing together for a while and I’ve coached them for a while, so they’ve got a nucleus that’s going to play really well together.” 

Corasaniti continued to describe the squad as being full of “some solid players.” 

Be that as it may, when comparing this year’s team to previous ones, Corasaniti pointed out the biggest missing element: speed. 

Corasaniti highlighted that the Redskins don’t have a “speed demon” on the squad. With that, he’s hoping to see improvement in other areas of the game to make up for the lack thereof.  

“We’re going to overcome [the lack of speed] by just knowing the game,” Corasaniti said. “And we’re going to compensate in other areas for us being slower than we usually have been.” 

Coming off the 10-0 shutout win in the scrimmage, the Redskins will look to begin the regular season on the right track. 

Social Circle will travel to Cedar Shoals in Athens, Georgia to take on the Jaguars. Then, on Friday, Feb. 4 the Redskins will host Monroe Area. 

Region play kicks off for the Redskins on Monday, Feb. 7 when they face Commerce High School.