By GRAHAM BROOKS / Staff Writer

HELENA–The Helena Lady Huskies soccer team is gearing up for their second season overall and after a full offseason of training and conditioning, the girls are ready to hit the field.

The Lady Huskies begin the season on Tuesday, Feb. 9, against Homewood and will look to expand on the experience they learned from last season.

Helena head coach Clif Naron is entering his second season coaching the Lady Huskies and said that this season will be more about being competitive besides just learning the fundamentals of soccer.

“Last year on the girl’s side we knew most didn’t play club soccer and the high school season was where they played,” said Naron. “Last season we focused more on the fundamentals of the game but this year our mantra is be competitive, work hard and be better. We want this year to be more about being competitive.”

The Lady Huskies will be switching from their 4-4-3 formation they played last year to a 3-5-2 formation this season.

Naron has already seen improvement from last year to this year solely based on the results in the ref clinic games the Huskies played on Jan. 30.

“Last year in the ref clinic we lost all three games but this year we won one, lost one and tied one so there’s definitely been improvement,” said Naron.

Much of the improvement has come from the offseason workout program and expanding on fundamentals the team learned last season.

The Lady Huskies hit the gym in the spring, summer and prior to this season to work on getting physically stronger. The girls also spent many Saturdays running and conditioning to prepare themselves.

Naron said he is expecting more out of each player this season but will be looking to Roby Boatman, Juli Tatum and Alexa Williams to help led the team.

The Huskies will field a relatively young roster overall with just one senior on the team.

For updates on the Helena girl’s soccer team, follow them on Twitter @HHS_GirlSoccer.