Description 

  The Thomas Jefferson Middle School Manly Rams soccer team is relatively new. The Manly Rams soccer team has been around for less than five years. Only 6th through 8th graders are allowed to try out for the team. The coaches are Mr. Onischuk and Mrs. Bogart. They are both P.E. teachers at Thomas Jefferson Middle School. Mr. Onischuk and Mrs. Bogart have also been coaching other sports besides soccer. They both have a lot of coaching experience from coaching over the years. The more coaching experience that they have, the greater the team. Since Mr. Onischuk and Ms. Bogart have a lot of coaching experience, and are P.E. teachers, they can help improve the team, teach them new soccer skills, and improve their record.  

Sequence / History 

About two years ago, the Rams boys’ soccer team tied in the championship game in 2021. This was a great accomplishment for the Manly Rams. Compared to 2018 and 2019, the Manly Rams had less than a dozen wins combined in both years. Two years later, they were hungry for revenge and defeated almost all soccer teams in the regular season. The team was led by their great goalie, Jorge Rojas. He saved many goals from being scored during the game. The Manly Rams played and battled hard the entire game. There were some amazing goals throughout the game. Even though the Manly Rams tried their best, the Manly Rams tied the game and became the Co-Champions of the County Cup.

Cause and Effect 

Throughout all the seasons that the Manly Rams soccer team has played, all the eighth graders have been getting more playtime than the sixth and the seventh graders. This would make sense because the eighth graders are stronger and taller. They also have more experience playing soccer. Although this could help, it’s very unfair because the sixth and seventh graders also want to get playing time too, but when they do get playtime, it’s because they are winning by a lot, for example, 4-0 or 5-0. If I were the coach, I would give equal playing time for all the players even if we are winning or losing. If you think about it, the players who aren’t getting any playing time would lose their confidence and consider quitting the school team. Then the team wouldn’t have any subs. That would be horrible because when the players get tired, the coaches wouldn’t have any subs filling in for the tired players. They have to keep playing while they are tired. They would have no strength, and don’t feel confident while they play. The same thing happened last year with Favio. He was tired of not getting any play time and sitting on the bench by himself all the time, and he quit the soccer team and hasn’t been willing to join since.

Question and Answer 

  A big question for the world is: “How was the Manly Rams so good in the regular season, but what happened to them in the playoffs?”  The Manly Rams started well. They had a winning streak that helped them make it into the playoffs. They had a lot of blowout wins, but also some hard losses. I think they were so good in the regular season because there wasn’t any real pressure. I think they lost in the playoffs because of how much pressure there was on them. This answers the question, “How was the Manly Rams so good in the regular season, but what happened to them in the playoffs?”

Compare and Contrast 

Overall, the 2023 season was not bad. I’m going to compare the 2023 season to the 2021 season. Starting, we have the 2023 season. In this season, they had a good and strong regular season with 9 wins and 5 losses. By the time playoffs came around, they looked a little off. The Manly Rams lost in the first round. Then they lost to Morris Plains. Morris Plains had beaten the Manly Rams twice before. Now let’s compare that to the 2021 season. In 2021, just like the 2023 season, they had a strong regular season. Only lost a handful of games. Now, unlike 2023 they didn’t lose in the first round of the playoffs. They made it to the championship. Unfortunately, they did not win, but they didn’t lose either. They ended up TYING. So that meant instead of being champions, they were co-champions with the other team. Overall, I think that both seasons were good.

Problem and Solution 

In my opinion, the problem is some of them aren’t communicating with each other and asking for passes. This is terrible because if they have no communication, then they won’t be able to control where the ball is going, and what is happening on the field. In soccer, your team needs to communicate and show teamwork to become a better team. This could be easily solved by practicing this in practice or the team getting to know the team better. If they do this, this could lead to winning many games, going on winning streaks, going to the playoffs, and possibly winning the whole tournament. This is why they won it when my brother, known as Jorge Rojas, played on the team as the starting goalie. I was there when they were named Co-Champions of the county cup. I saw them communicating and dominating the game. But the only problem was that they weren’t having success with the chances they were getting. They tied because of an own goal by the other team. It was a nerve-racking game, and I was shaking and quaking. If the Manly Rams want to be the better team, they have to communicate more frequently.