The Jefferson City Lady Jays are only looking forward this soccer season.
"A lot of the kids were talking about, 'in the past, in the past, in the past,'" first-year Jefferson City coach Jordan Trimble said as the Lady Jays prepare to start the season today at Rolla against the Lady Bulldogs. "You could see kids drop their heads when they talked about the past.
"At one of our very first meetings, I told them the past never gets brought up again."
That was evident at the start of preseason practice, where the first week was spent doing tryouts.
"It didn't matter if you started on the varsity or were a reserve on the JV, it was a clean slate," Trimble said.
Trimble said the Lady Jays have bought into what he's trying to accomplish.
"A big part of that is the senior class, they have been great leaders," he said.
Jefferson City has 13 seniors on its roster. In a break with tradition, four of them will primarily be junior varsity players.
"We try to stay away from that, but the good thing about the four is they have agreed to help lead the underclassmen and get them to mature faster. They've run with that."
The nine on the varsity all have a wealth of experience.
"They've all had significant playing time since they were freshmen," Trimble said. "They've all put a lot of time in the program and deserve to have a great senior season."
Megan Duffield, a senior, returns in goal for the Lady Jays. Trimble was the goalkeeper coach for the Lady Jays in Duffield's freshman season.
"She has come in more ready than ever," Trimble said. "She knows what my expectations are."
Starting in the back are seniors Brianne Campbell, Greta Haarmann and Jamie Rodieck, along with sophomore Delaney Kaiser.
"It's a strong group that can move and be physical," Trimble said. "They all have great footwork back there."
Starting in the midfield are senior Tessa Sigmund, junior Kaitlyn Schnwandtner and sophomore Daelynn Scheulen.
Morgan Jordan, a senior, will start at one of the outside midfield spots. Morgan Drury, a junior, will get the the first chance at the other spot, with senior Sasha Campbell the top reserve.
Bailey Dey, a junior, will start at forward.
"She's got a chance to be very good, she can turn in a heartbeat and shoot," Trimble said.
Halle Bohlken, a senior, will see time up front as well.
"She knows she's going to get her chances and she's excited for the season," Trimble said.
In an effort to score more goals this season, the Lady Jays will attempt to quicken their pace of play.
"We have to speed the ball up, we have to find better combinations, we have to give ourselves more chances," Trimble said. "We don't want to just kick it, we want to play with a purpose and with speed.
"Along with that, we're going to try to push as many numbers forward as we can. Scoring always seems to be the biggest question."
Jefferson City is still working to find the best combination of players on set pieces.
"We're still working on the corners and restarts," Trimble said. "We're looking for somebody to serve the ball and the right people to get around the net."
Trimble believes the Lady Jays will start the year ahead of the game because of offseason workouts and the ability to practice outside more than usual.
"We're in a lot better shape," Trimble said. "We've been working on our speed and agility and strength since November and adding that to getting outside, we're ahead of where teams usually are.
"There hasn't been a lot of gym time."
In his first season as a head coach, Trimble is stressing communication.
"We want a new environment and I've really made sure that I overdo the communication because I don't want the players or the parents thinking their left out in limbo about what's going on," he said. "I'm trying to stay on top of it."
Jefferson City will be busy in April, with 20 games scheduled.
"We had some shuffling around this season and that's just the way the schedule ended up," Trimble said.
Jefferson City is in a district along with Lebanon, Sedalia Smith-Cotton and Waynesville. Jeffferson City will host the district tournament.