Fall Practice Begins: Soccer, volleyball, tennis and cross country get to work
-
Seneca Valley's Brynn Houser (blue) defends a shot on goal, during the first day of practice Monday, Aug. 11, 2025, at Seneca Valley High School. Ralph LoVuolo/Special to the Eagle
-
Seneca Valley's Addison Cravotta (pink) looking to pass during the first day of practice Monday, Aug. 11, 2025, at Seneca Valley High School. Ralph LoVuolo/Special to the Eagle
-
Seneca Valley's Karly Majeski with a shot on goal with during the first day of practice Monday, Aug. 11, 2025, at Seneca Valley High School. Ralph LoVuolo/Special to the Eagle
-
Seneca Valley's Head Coach Mark Perry blows the whistle to get the team into formation during the first day of practice Monday, Aug. 11, 2025, at Seneca Valley High School. Ralph LoVuolo/Special to the Eagle
-
Seneca Valley Girls Soccer team during the first day of practice Monday, Aug. 11, 2025, at Seneca Valley High School. Ralph LoVuolo/Special to the Eagle
-
Seneca Valley's Cassie Leonard (pink) takes the ball down fields as she is defended by Joslyn Grillo (yellow), during the first day of practice Monday, Aug. 11, 2025, at Seneca Valley High School. Ralph LoVuolo/Special to the Eagle
-
Seneca Valley's Sydney Postler (blue) defends off a shot on goal, during the first day of practice Monday, Aug. 11, 2025, at Seneca Valley High School. Ralph LoVuolo/Special to the Eagle
-
Seneca Valley's Madeline Marcotte taking a shot on goal during the first day of practice Monday, Aug. 11, 2025, at Seneca Valley High School. Ralph LoVuolo/Special to the Eagle
Dan Buzzard has played soccer at different levels and has been involved in the sport in multiple roles. Through it all, August has remained a month he anticipates.
He’s entering his third season as head coach of Butler’s girls.
“As a player, I loved being with my team. As a coach, August is a time for me to get to know the new girls and see the team become closer before the season starts,” he said. “It’s all about camaraderie and I still look forward to it.”
Monday was the first official day of practice for several fall high school sports including soccer, girls volleyball, cross country and girls tennis.
Buzzard was a goalkeeper at Redbank Valley High School before playing at Waynesburg University.
Buzzard said this time of the year can be the start of something special for individual players, which in turn, can affect the level of team success during the season.
“The teams I have been involved with, I’ve seen players who were good coming into summer practice, but end up having outstanding years,” he said. “They take the chance that is given to them and they run with it. That’s why we give opportunities to all of the girls on the team, to show what they’ve got.”
Butler will hold two-a-day practices this week, one in the morning and again in the evening. Scrimmages are scheduled next week against Burrell and Fox Chapel. The season kicks off with a home game against Mt. Lebanon Aug. 25.
“I get more nervous for games now that I’m a coach,” Buzzard said. “There’s only so much I can control, but we put our trust in the girls.”
Steve Strelick has been leading Seneca Valley’s cross country program since 2013. This year, he has 20 boys and 30 girls to work with.
“We don’t do the same thing in practice every day, like to change things up and keep the kids on their toes,” he said. “We did a time trial today, were going to use the middle school course, which is 3K, but a tree came down on the trail and we had to switch and ended up running about 2K.
“Cross country is a sport where kids can do a lot on their own over the summer. If they can get together for some runs, that’s even better because you usually run harder when you’re with other people.”
Strelick appreciates kids who show dedication to cross country, which often does not include the same level of attention and fanfare that accompany other sports.
“It’s not like other sports and we tell our runners to embrace that,” he said.
