Hodgdon/East Grand Hawks Soaring High This Season In Their First Season Of CO-OP

Hodgdon, Maine (WAGM) - Hodgdon and East Grand Formed a Cooperative Boys Soccer Team this year in order to bolster numbers and In total, 6 East Grand Players came over to the Hawks roster. while the team is adjusting, The collaboration itself has gone very well.

Jason Little: " We Know from previous years that East Grand was gonna be was low on numbers and then coming into this year, we found out through graduating and a couple of students that weren’t going to be playing that were going to be low as well. So, it’s definitely good for both, gives our groups; our group the numbers, gives East Grand the chance to play on a full team as well”.

The Hodgdon/East Grand Hawks are already a good way through their first season as a CO-OP Team and while there was some unfamiliarity and uncertainty with how this season would go, it wouldn’t last long

Drew Duttweiler: “I didn’t really know many of the guys. But you know, it’s definitely worked out Definitely better then i thought it was (going to). Because I really wasn’t didn’t have huge hopes for the season, but its going much better then i thought and without the east grand guys, (it) definitely would not have been a possibility”.

Derek Golding: " At first, I knew Hodgdon was a good team, i didn’t know since i was from like east grand and stuff like that, i didn’t know I was gonna like start and actually get a lot of playing time but pretty much just tried hard and...that does it. And Everybody else is really nice”.

One potential concern for this team was the ability to hold practices, due to the 45-minute drive that East Grand Players must make. But that has not been a problem at all, in fact, The team has seen no issues with players from both sides being on time and ready for practices

Oisin Gardiner: " Practice has been really fun, we’ve been, we’ve been working hard for practices, but we also have been getting the necessary like fun out of it too. East Grand kids have to drive a little bit to get down here, but they’ve been here on time, all the time, like they never miss a beat”.

Derek Golding: " It’s not bad, cause all the people that; we bring a van up and all the people in the van, your friends with so you can talk to them. But one struggle we have is we can get a little rowdy sometimes and stuff like that but other than that it’s really not been that bad of a ride”.

The Hawks still have more games this season and while communication had been one of their key strengths, there’s still much to learn from each other and the game.

Oisin Gardiner: " i would say even though we are talking, we don’t know what each other’s full capabilities are. So, we need to figure out what everyone’s very good at and what people aren’t good at and we need to support those on the field as well as in the practices and try to work that up”.

Jason Little: " With that transition to..to players having more opportunity i think we’ve just struggled offensively a little bit, had some trouble putting the ball into the back of the net. But were learning and getting there, I’m confident by the end of the year; middle of the year, it will be a lot better”.

While the Gold Ball is the goal for every team entering the season and throughout the year, this team is simply enjoying the opportunity to play competitively.

Jonathon Eigenmann, Newssource sports.

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