Marble Falls 7v7 soccer league does plenty for Burnet, Lago Vista

The Marble Falls 7-on-7 soccer league concluded June 28 and accomplished the most important goals for coaches — giving their players opportunities to play and improve and the athletes taking advantage.

Marble Falls came in first in the league standings. Other participating teams included Lago Vista, Jarrell and two teams from Florence and from Lampasas. All but Lampasas are in the new District 25-4A that will face each other in 2023.

Lady Mustangs head coach Abigail Blunt created the co-ed league and invited numerous programs to participate. One stipulation was that each team had to have four girls play at all times. Vacations and conflicts, however, made it difficult on squads to meet that guideline. So teams went with which players were available. In the end the main goal of the league was accomplished, said Lady Dawgs head coach Kim Myhre.

“The benefits obviously were getting touches and the speed of co-ed was faster for our girls,” she said. “Our boys team is very good. It was nice for them to be apart of this. We had to pass the ball. It’s good for our programs to pick up the speed of play and our boys to better learn to pass as a team. They got better as a unit.”

Most players aren’t patient enough to work the ball and force opponents to play defense for a long time. But those who play for the Lady Dawgs know the emphasis Myhre has to working for the open shot. At first the boys didn’t embrace that, wanting to cut through the defense by dribbling. But then the Bulldogs began to see the benefits and started to pass more and dribble less.

“We work a ton on passing every single day,” Myhre said. “That was huge for us. It was nice to see them continue to do that. They were doing give-and-goes and through balls. Assists are just as important.”

Myhre observed the other teams and saw some talented players. In short, she believes each district contest will require players to be at their best physically and mentally.

“Marble Falls is always going to be a rivalry and playing Lampasas gets them more excited for the season,” she said. “I really do think it should be a good season for both. You have to show up and compete. Lago Vista will be good. There’s a lot of club soccer for boys and girls. They obviously are going to have some good players. It’ll be good games with them as well. Overall, (the June league) was a great experience.”

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