Roosevelt Girls Soccer Team Ready to Roll: A Q&A with Coach Marty Pfister

The girls soccer team at Eleanor Roosevelt High School, which hosts students from College Park, is gearing up for a highly-competitive season. After finishing 12-3 last year, the team lost just two starters to graduation. Coach Marty Pfister is confident that his squad can continue its winning ways in 2010. 

College Park Patch: What is your background in soccer? 

Coach Marty Pfister: I played for four years in high school at Eleanor Roosevelt from 1985 to 1989. I had a few opportunities to play at the division-III level, but I went to school in Michigan where they didn't have a varsity team—just a club team. After I graduated I moved back to the area and decided I wanted to get into coaching. I was the assistant coach for a couple of years at Roosevelt and was the head JV coach one year. I later coached at the Arlington Soccer Club for six or seven years. I have also coached travel teams in McLean and Reston. This will be my fifth year as head coach at Roosevelt, and I'm also about to start my third season coaching the South Lakes High School boys in Virginia. I've got a lot going on but I enjoy it. 

Patch: How was last season?

Pfister: In this county it pretty much always comes down to us and Bowie. It has always worked out that way. Last year we were young. We started a freshman keeper and had freshmen on the field. It was a good season, we went 12-3, but we couldn't beat Bowie.

Patch: What are your goals for this season?

Pfister: We want to work hard. We're not the fastest team so we're trying to move to more of a possession attack. We want to win the county championship. That's always a goal. We also want to compete in the state finals. We have to take it one step at a time though.

Patch: How have practices been going so far?

August 14 was the first day we were allowed to practice, so we got out there at 8:00 a.m. that day. Since then we've really come together. Since we only lost two starters from last year, we have a year of experience on this team. We have a tight 16 to 18 girls coming back so they were ready to get going right away and improve on things that we put in place last year. We've gotten a lot out of only a week and a half of practice—more than most teams because we didn't have to worry about tryouts and cuts. We are ahead of the curve.

Patch: Who do you expect to shine on this team?

Pfister: Mira Walcott has been outstanding in scrimmages. She's a junior and she's our center mid-fielder. She's been able to posses the ball and hold it and then distribute it. We've been able to attack as a team because of her.

Patch: What will it take for you to look back on this season and call it a success?

Pfister: In general we want the kids to just have a lot of fun, make a lot of friendships and do well in school. You always want them to win, but even though I lost in state finals when I was in high school, I look back on it as a very positive experience. The wins will come if you work hard. I just make sure everyone is enjoying soccer. 

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