As Fort Benning says goodbye to being the home of the All-Army softball trial camp, which was held in early September, it ushers in the All-Army soccer team trial camp for the first time.
Preparing to make its run for a third straight All-Armed Forces championship, the soccer team began its trial camp here Wednesday— the first time the team has trained away from Joint Base Langley-Eustis in Hampton, Va.
With the Armed Forces Tournament set to take place Oct. 18-25 in Hampton, Army looks to become the first branch of the military to win three consecutive soccer titles.
Head coach Roye Locklear said he believes this year’s team will have the talent to match the high expectations. “There’s probably about eight or nine guys from last year’s team, but we’ve got an infusion of a bunch of new guys, which is very exciting,” Locklear said “We’re excited to find that guy that’s really going to stand out.” The trial camp will feature 25 players vying for 18 positions with the final cuts set for Thursday.
Locklear, who played for All-Army in 2006 and 2007 and is now coaching for his second year, said one of the main differences between this year’s team and last year’s could be the abundance of players with size on defense.
Locklear mentioned Chris Nolan, a 6-foot-6-inch first-year tryout from Fort Bragg, N.C. In a scrimmage game against the Columbus Black Stars, a local club team, Nolan used his height to defend several placement kicks into Army’s side of the field.
“We’ve always had short players who play in the back,” Locklear said. “Sometimes it’s good to have that one guy, either defensive midfielder or someone in the back, with a little bit of height who can help out … in situations where we need to head the ball. He would definitely add some size to our defense.”
But if the improvement is on the backfield, Locklear said his main concern this year is at the goalkeeper position.
“I think it’s a notch below from where we’re accustomed to having it,” he said. “We’ve been lucky enough that we’ve gotten goalkeepers over the last seven or eight years that have played at West Point who have experience at the collegiate level and have really been the strong suit of our team.”
Jose Alfaro, a four-time All-Army veteran who did his basic training here, said the transition of coming to Fort Benning from Hampton has been smooth.
“(Fort Benning) had been doing a great job for us and we’ve been flexible to everything,” he said. “The facilities have been great.”
Forward Titus Kamau, stationed here with the 14th Combat Support Hospital, said he has played numerous times for the All-Army team, but this year marks the first time he will be able to represent Fort Benning. Because of 14th CSH’s ongoing Expert Field Medical Badge training, Kamau said it was much easier for him to try out again this year since the camp is being held at Fort Benning. Kamau was forced to miss the first three days of the camp and began training with the team Monday.
“14th CSH has been really busy,” Kamau said. “I think this is an advantage because I’m right here and I can report right back to my unit. I feel I’m in good shape. I’m motivated to be out here.”
