NBHS soccer ready for first full year of competition

The New Brockton Gamecocks and Lady Gamecocks soccer programs held their first seasons last year but COVID-19 had different ideas shutting down the season only a few games into the year. Now, both teams are ready to get a full season under the belts finally.

Gamecock coach David Bourne is entering his second season at the helm and though his team lost a few seniors last year that were leaders he is confident in some of the returners and new players.

Veterans like senior Jacob Bustamante will need to lead the Gamecocks and senior football players Julian Noble and Sean Lindley and basketball players like Preston Bourne and Dillon Kelty will bring some much needed size and physicality to the team.

“It’s going pretty good. We lost some older talent from last year but we gained some guys that are really going to help out,” David Bourne said of his team. “Last year we didn’t have any size whatsoever, so those new guys are really going to help out.

“I’m going to be leaning on Jacob to lead the whole attack, he’ll be the core of the game, everything stems off him. I really want goalkeeper Zack (Robbins) to break out. He’s had a really great start to practices.”

Despite the shortened 2020 Bourne says he feels like he has an experienced team.

“I feel like the core group of guys here understand the style of play we want to run and the new guys have caught on really quick,” Bourne said. “That core group of guys that was here last year we have most of them back and I feel like we’re kind of finding our groove. We still have some obstacles we have to overcome and we’re going to go all out.”

The Lady Gamecocks will breaking in a new, but familiar, head coach as last season’s coach Micki McKenna stepped down due to her family moving. Last year’s assistant coach Rustin Sauvigne has stepped in to take over the head coaching position.

Sauvigne was a star soccer player at Valley High and also competing in club soccer in Georgia and was an assistant coach at Charles Henderson while attending Troy University.

“I grew up playing (soccer) ever since I was a kid, so I’ve been around the game my whole life and always wanted to be a coach,” Sauvigne said.

Sauvigne said that early practices have been solid but the team has had to battle with a number of players being quarantined along with basketball players that haven’t been able to practice yet.

“Things have been going good, we’re getting more girls out now,” Sauvigne said. “We’ve had a few that have been out until this week and we’ll have more come out when basketball is done.”

Sauvigne said that he would be leaning on his older returners like Gracie Hallman, Brenda Smith and Lexie Adkinson to lead the 2021 Lady Gamecocks but is excited about some of the younger players, as well.

“My older girls will have to lead and some of the younger girls have a lot of talent,” he said. “We have a good mix of older players and younger players we can build a foundation on.”

Sauvigne said he just wants to get a full season in this year but also wants to see his Lady Gamecocks improving as the season goes on.

“I want to be able to play the whole season,” he flatly said. “Last year we got cut off the second week of March and I want us to stay healthy, that was a big issue last year, too. I just want to see progress throughout the season and watch the girls develop.”

New Brockton kicks off the season on Feb. 16 at home against GW Long with the boys competing, while the girls and boys both play at home against Trinity on Feb. 18.