“Our main goals this year are to have great team morale and to rebuild our energy around the program,” said Hackley Girls Varsity Soccer (HGVS) Assistant Coach Cassandra Sekkas.
Coach Sekkas is a three-season athletic coach and a health and physical education teacher at Hackley. In the fall, she coaches Girls’ Varsity Soccer alongside coach Natalie Hopp-Gaven. In the winter, she coaches Middle School Girls Basketball, and in the spring, Middle School Girls Lacrosse.
One of Coach Sekkas’ goals for this soccer season is to boost the program’s energy and spirit.
“A couple years ago we lost nine starting players out of the eleven on the field, so last year was a tough year for us. This year, we are trying to rebuild the connection on and off the field that we have always previously had on HGVS,” she said.
Coach Sekkas feels that the team is definitely achieving this goal this season and that the spirit is better than ever.
“The enthusiasm has been great this year, so it’s been an amazing environment to be a part of. The overall energy on and off the field is incredible,” she said.
Another goal Coach Sekkas has for her team this year is to always try to improve, no matter the amount.
Coach Sekkas is getting ready for Girls Varsity Soccer practice. During practice, she loves to work on tactical skills with the team, as well as create strategies to use against their opponents. These two actions resulted in great success for Coach Sekkas as well as the team!
“This season, I have been constantly telling the girls to try to progress and get a little bit better each day,” she said. She feels that this will add up over time, making the players improve in the long run.
Coach Sekkas also finds coaching extremely rewarding. Her favorite part is watching kids grow as both students and athletes during their middle and high school years.
“I love getting to know students in fifth and sixth-grade physical education while watching them participate in sports, then seeing how they progress through the athletic program as a whole as they grow up,” she said.
Another part of HGVS that Coach Sekkas appreciates is the rich history that goes along with the program.
“I’ve learned the tremendous history and traditions that go along with the program from the wall that they paint every year to our Dave Allison game that we kick off alumni weekend playing. It’s great to be a part of something bigger than myself,” she said.
In terms of their competition this year, Coach Sekkas feels that Dalton is a top team to beat. “Dalton is one of the top in the league this year, and we have already played them and tied which was awesome and set us off on a good foot,” she said.
In order to have the most optimal results on the field this season, Coach Sekkas also has strategies she would like to carry out. “I want the girls to keep possession of the ball, build up from the back, and to defend as a whole unit so that we can counterattack together on the field for offense,” she said.
Overall, the 2024 soccer season has been great, and Coach Sekkas is excited to see where the season takes her girls, especially now in the NYSAIS tournament.
