The success of Air Academy Boys Soccer has been a point of pride for AAHS for many years. They established this reputation by winning state in 2014 and 2017. This year, the team made it to state finals winning again for the second year in a row. This success is not just natural skill; the boys put in effort, time, and care into their sport.

As junior Adin Schwenke puts it, “Every year, every player on the team gives 100 percent no matter if they are on the starting eleven or sit the bench, everyone puts in maximum effort.”

Not only is the work ethic a major factor into how the athletes play but the environment is essential to the success of the players.

“We are more than just teammates but more like a big family, going to soccer is definitely the highlight of my day, every day,” said Thad Dewing, another starting junior on the soccer team.

This being said, the teams success is also heavily dependent upon the skill-set of the team as a unit. When asked if the team dynamics or skill played more of a role in their success, senior Brayden Jonswold stated, “We definitely have some especially skilled players but we are only as good as our weakest link. The team dynamic we have is definitely our key to success and practice is not just individual skills but also how to work together as one group.”

Coach Espen Hosoein, head varsity boys soccer coach for the past 14 years, also inputs, “You need to have the perfect blend of both talent and team dynamic, having skillful players is great, but if that’s all you have you are never going to make it to the championship game.”

The well-executed tie between their individual improvement and team dynamic plays an important role in their game success as well as mental preparation into a game mindset.

Schwenke, Dewing and Jonswold all had specific, individual strategies to prepare them for a game. Schwenke stated that he will always tape his wrists and write meaningful messages on it such as names of family members, friends as well as inspirational bible verses.

Dewing said that he focuses on mentally preparing himself for the next game as soon as the game is over. As Jonswold put it, “It’s just as much a mental game as a physical one, it starts long before the game even starts.”

On Saturday, November 10th, the varsity boys soccer participated in the 4a Colorado state championship game. AAHS played a magnificent game, winning 2-0 against rival, Denver North, winning the state championship for the second year in a row.

This incredible success has given the boy’s soccer program more reason to celebrate and show their success. The boys give a lot of their thanks to the coaching staff and their strategies of success. Dewing explains, “We are extremely fortunate to have as good of a coaching staff as we do, our head coach could easily be a great college coach, he is incredible and is probably the biggest  reason in the success of our team.”

As the boys put it, through hard work, team dynamic, skill and incredible coaching, the AAHS soccer team have worn their success into Air Academy history. Head coach Espen concludes, “We have been fortunate enough to build a phenomenal culture here at AAHS the last 10 years through discipline, passion, teachable spirit, confidence, mental toughness and trust.”