Playing soccer within the Whitfield County lines, Coahulla Creek has had to carve out its own area of respect as a new program entering its fourth season.
Yet, with no shortage of quality soccer players from Dalton to Chatsworth and in between, it hasn’t been that hard.
Prep soccer and tennis begin this week in the state of Georgia, and the Colts will begin their quest for another state playoff berth when they begin play Thursday against Murray County.
In their first three seasons since the school opened in 2011, the Colts have qualified for the playoffs twice. They earned their first win in the playoffs last season, defeating Buford 3-2 before falling 8-7 in penalty kicks to eventual Class 3A state runner-up Oconee County.
In the same county as two-time defending state champion Dalton, as well as 2013 state runner-up Southeast Whitfield and semifinalist Northwest Whitfield, Coahulla Creek has had to work its way from the ground up.
“It’s definitely been a building process,” Coahulla Creek coach Eric Parker said. “The first season, we felt forgotten. We made the playoffs our first year, yet we only heard about Dalton, Southeast and Northwest. Last year we put ourselves on the map, and starting our fourth season, we’re moving in the right direction.
“One thing this area is known for is soccer.”
With the large collections of Hispanic talent in both Whitfield and Murray Counties, one of the biggest challenges for Parker has been trying to mesh the skill level with a certain level of coaching.
“You have the talent. How do you coach them?” Parker said. “Do you have a Hispanic style of football? Or do you change to more of a European or German style? We try to have a mixture of the two, which is interesting because we use our speed a lot and play a lot of through balls, but we’re learning how to play backwards, take the ball to the wings and cross it. Something that I can tell with Hispanic soccer is that they love to go to the middle; they love to be fast and outrun you, but there are some fundamentals there in resetting and more fundamental play.”
Cold weather and all, the goals are simple for the Colts this season. Advance further than last year, which would mean at least a trek to the state quarterfinals.
“We want to win the region,” Parker said. “That puts you in such a better spot in the playoffs, because you face a No. 4 seed from another region instead of a No. 3 or No. 2. That advantage is unreal.
“We’ve made the playoffs our first year, then we went an extra round in our second year. So my hopes are that we reach the quarterfinals or go even further.”
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him at twitter.com/genehenleytfp.