The De Soto High School boys’ soccer team held its second annual boot camp the weekend of Aug. 21. This year, the camp was 12 hours long for junior varsity and C team and 24 hours for varsity. It included training with Lt. Col. James Dowdy, a retired officer form the United States Army and Staff Sgt. Damian Rodriguez, a retired U.S. Marine.

“The entire purpose of doing this is to combine our team of different individuals and turn them into one,” senior David Apple said. “[That is] where we get our saying ‘11 as 1,’ and I think we accomplished that.”

The boot camp started with a three-mile run at 6 a.m., then the boys did an hour and a half of training with Lt. Col. Dowdy. After eating lunch, they had an hour break, then went back out to the field for more training.

“It was exhausting,” senior Nathan Kowynia said. “Lots of hard work and teamwork was the big thing for us.”

The JV and C teams ended their day with a two-mile run at 6 p.m., while the varsity squad stayed and did another hour and a half of training, plus work from a personal trainer, ending around 11 p.m.

The varsity team got up the next morning around 4 a.m. for some more training, then finished the camp at 6 a.m. with a ceremony, which included a special Kool-Aid only for the completers of the full varsity camp, according to head coach Jesse Smith.

“This day pushes every player to their limit physically and mentally and it requires a team effort to get through it,” Smith said. “If a team can complete this day together, then they can do anything.”

The players agreed that although the boot camp was tough in both physical and mental aspects, it helped them become closer and stronger as a team.

“Spending the day getting your butt kicked with your brothers would bring anyone closer, and that’s what happened to us,” Kowynia said.

Although the team lost many strong players from last years’ State runner-up team, Smith feels the team this year is equally as capable.

“Every year we graduate a lot of key players. This year was no different. We have a good group of guys who don’t have a lot of varsity experience. But, they have seen for years what it takes to be successful, and they will carry the torch this year,” Smith said. “We know we have a target on our back and we’re ready for whatever is thrown at us.”

The boys’ soccer team is looking forward to the season coming back as the State runner-up team, and are optimistic regardless of if they will be playing in 4A or 5A division this year.

“I think that we have great potential this year to go back to State,” Apple said. “We [might] have to play in the 5A State playoffs, but if any team is up to the challenge, it’s us.”