Bulldogs Get An International Perspective

DAYTON - Despite the fact that soccer has been well established in the United States for some time now and that the country's national team had an exciting run at the World Cup in South Africa, there are always new things to learn from overseas players.

At least that's the opinion of senior Davy Phillips, a forward and sometimes de­fensive back on the Dayton Bulldogs. This year, Phillips and his fellow players on the DHS soccer team need look no further than their own roster for some international soc­cer perspective. It comes in the form of two foreign exchange students who have handled the ball quite a bit back home.

One is junior Ann Kristin Luzi from Norway, the other is junior Mohannad Owiwix from Palestine. "I think it helps our team grow," Phillips said. And growing's what the Bulldogs have been all about, according to head coach D.J. Frame, who got involved in starting a soccer team at DHS because a group of kids, including his own, had their hearts set on adding the sport to the school's fall schedule. The Bulldogs now go into their fourth year, and the original "Team 1" has all but graduated. Phillips is the only one left from the first year's starting line up, which moved up over the years with Frame as a coach beginning long be­fore their high school years. Now a whole new group of Dayton students have em­braced

the sport, and Frame has no trouble filling the Bulldogs' roster.

This year, 26 players (in­cluding seven girls) have signed up for the sport de­spite the team's 0 - 14 record in 2009. In part that's because those losing numbers are deceiving, Frame and his players said. In several of the games, the coach decided to sub out some of his starters so more of the kids could play - something that cost them those games but underscored the sense of "family" on the team. The Bulldogs lost nine seniors last year, including Nick Powell, David Frame, Amy Schlenz, Kenny Sun­derland on defense and for­ward Devon Strang. "It's tough to see the core of 'Team 1' go," Frame said. But the good news is that nine new players, includ­ing the seasoned foreign exchange students, joined the roster and overall experi­ence and skill levels are more evenly distributed. Last year, the team had some stars, some greenhorns and not much in between, said junior Blake Powell, a mid fielder.

"We have fewer ex­tremes," he said. "We're athletic, and most of us are in good shape."

Frame is counting on Powell, Phillips, his own daughter Malia (sophomore) on defense, Andre Fayatte (junior) as forward, Adam Strohben (junior) as forward, and Samura Miller (junior) as mid forward to provide the team's leadership this fall. The team will need it, particularly against mul­tiple state champs St. George from Spokane and Riverside Christian from Yakima. "Most teams we play are on the upper end," Phillips said. "But I feel more con­fident

with our ball control and better discipline. We should win at least a couple of games."

Frame agreed that, com­pared to last year's record, the count can only go up. "I'm excited about the season coming," said Frame, who has been coaching soc­cer

in Dayton for seven years, including the youth league. "We're only going to get better."

2010 Bulldogs

Soccer Team

Zach Bennett Junior Dedloff Tim Ihle Tristan Lonneker Kate Sunderland

-Herrin Anders Warner Willie Weppler. Malia Frame Samantha Harting Andre Fayette Alex Hays Zane Miller Marshall Nechodom Demetri Tziovaras. Ann Luzi Samuar Miller Keisha Phillips James Costello Carter Currin GabeGarcia Blake Powell Adam Strohbehn Mohannad Owiwi. Rowene Huwe Kyndell Tiedemann Davy Phillips

Coach: D.J. Frame