The Humber’s men’s soccer team coaches hope to find new players to help them return to their winning ways.
The team is holding tryouts this week, looking for new players who can fit their system and style of play.
“We’re going to look for high-quality players, guys that can compliment our current roster,” assistant coach Jason Mesa said. “We know what we want to set up, we know what we want to accomplish.”
The 2023 outdoor season didn’t end how the Hawks wanted it to.
Despite only losing two games in the entire season, including the regular season and playoffs, it wasn’t enough to earn gold.
The Conestoga Condors, the only team to defeat Humber all season long, defeated them in the final 3-0.
Matthew Laic is controlling the ball in the OCAA championship finals. The Conestoga Condors defeated the Humber Hawks 3-0. Photo credit: Humber Hawks/Kyle Gilmor
Co-captain, Matthew Laic, said that it’s still a touchy subject among the players on the team.
“Nothing was going right for us,” Laic said, adding some players made mistakes they would never have during the regular season.
Even though this loss happened back in October, it still lingers in the coaching staff’s minds.
“We came out against a team that was very well-organized, defended very well and counterattacked very well. We weren’t able to find a way to break them down,” Mesa said.
These tryouts will be a great way for the team to reset from that final and also fill in some gaps in the team.
A few players are moving on from the Humber Hawks to take on other challenges, but the coaches say they will be missed.
“It always hurts when you lose players,” Mesa said. “You build a pretty good bond with some of the players, so it’s definitely going to have an impact.
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While the coaches are looking for complementary pieces to the team, it is still challenging to be a new player.
Laic and his co-captain, Adam Czerkawski, share the same philosophy in terms of keeping a friendly atmosphere within the team.
“All we want is to make a family, not just a team. We want to make a comfortable setting.”
Laic understands how much pressure there can be for a new player to join a team with such high expectations.
He wants players to know that it’s not the end of the world to make mistakes and that everyone goes through it.
Humber hasn’t taken the indoor lead championship since 2018.
Going into this winter season, Laic said the objective remains the same. “We need to win.”
Laic said that being crowned champions in the indoor season will put them back in their “rightful place.”
Tryouts will take place Jan. 17 from 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. at the Ontario Soccer Centre in Vaughan.