There will be more roster spots for J. Taylor Finley Middle School boys’ soccer players in September after Huntington UFSD reinstated a second team for the sport due to enormous interest.
The two Finley boys’ soccer teams will be coached by district physical education teachers Travis Smith and Alex Nelson. Tryouts will be held at Finley and once the final teams have been selected, practices and games will be held at Woodhull Intermediate School’s lower athletic field, which is being set-up just for the Finley athletes.
“We are very happy to have our own field at Woodhull,” Smith said. “It is a great space and we won’t have to share it with any other sport or lose it for practices when football or girls’ soccer have games. We will generally play games opposite each other. We can also scrimmage each other during practices.”
Finley players will be bused to Woodhull after school for practices and games. The two schools are located 1.2 miles from each other. Huntington UFSD has erected a new fence behind the north side goal to contain balls. The field is wide and long. “We are really looking forward to it,” Smith said. “Since we will be the only teams using it, there will be less confusion and we will never have to cancel practice due to lack of a field.”
The two Finley teams are expected to be very strong this year. Smith and Nelson are pumped up about the district adding the second team as well as being able to have their own field for practices and games. “It’s a really great situation,” Smith said. “The kids are going to love it.”
There will be plenty of opportunities for Finley seventh and eighth grade boys trying out for the two teams. Only nine players are returning from last year’s squad. The two teams expect to carry about 25 players each; give or take depending on the total turnout.
The returnees include incoming eighth graders Alex Bonilla, Max Carino, Xavier Garcia Granados, Christian Luca, Jason Mejia, Charles Polak, John Reyes-Alvarez, Angel Salvador and Rudis Villatoro Benitez.
The two Finley teams are scheduled to play 10 games each with five at home and five on the road. The opponents will consist of nearby middle schools. The first game is on September 22 and the last game is set for November 4.
Interested in playing on one of the Finley boys’ soccer team’s this year? Send a message to Smith (tsmith@hufsd.edu) or Nelson (anelson@hufsd.edu) and let them know you plan on trying out.
The school doctor will be at Finley on Wednesday, September 1 at 8 a.m. to give physical exams for student-athletes who want one. Athletes can submit paperwork (private physician physical form and interval health history) to the nurse on Monday and Tuesday, August 30-31 between 9a.m. – 3 p.m. and requalify for fall sports. Athletes can also sign up for their respective team and get cleared by the nurse on Thursday and Friday, September 9-10 during their respective lunch period.
Checklist prior to tryouts:
Every student needs to get re-qualified by the school nurse for each sport season. The nurse can only clear a student if they have the following forms on file:
• Private physician physical exam form: (link below)
http://www.hufsd.edu/assets/pdf/resources/2021/health/private_physical_exam_form.pdf
• Interval health history form: (link below)
http://www.hufsd.edu/assets/pdf/athletics/2022/interval_health_history.pdf
http://www.hufsd.edu/assets/pdf/athletics/2022/interval_health_history-sp.pdf
• Parent permission form: (link below)
http://www.hufsd.edu/assets/pdf/athletics/2022/parent_consent_form.pdf