photo by: Richard Gwin

Free State High soccer coach Kelly Barah, left, give some pointers to sophomore Emil Ivanov during a camp on Friday, June 10, 2016, at FSHS

Finishing last season with a double-digit win total was a big milestone for Free State High’s boys soccer team.

Now it’s the expectation.

Free State coach Kelly Barah said 10 wins is now the “bare minimum” for both the boys and girls soccer programs.

Ending a weeklong team camp Friday, which included a two-hour morning session and a 90-minute scrimmage at night, the Firebirds are confident they can carry momentum over from last year.

“We’re really excited,” junior Charlie Newsome said. “We have a lot of guys that can step up for us this year. Just looking at the camp, our numbers are looking real good. We’ll be ready for next year.”

In the evening session, the Firebirds played full scrimmages against each other, and, on occasion, they’ve played against adult men’s league teams.

“We lose,” Barah said, “but we want to see some of the things that we worked on in the morning session and/or in the film session.

“It’s a little bit taxing on the mind because we have to play a little bit smarter. We’re always dealing with a little bit more of the intellectual part of the game more so than the physical.”

Last season, the Firebirds finished with an 11-6-1 record, their most wins in a season since 2009. But they didn’t finish the way they wanted, losing in the regional title game with their leading scorer, graduated senior Will Laufer, out because of a broken jaw.

“That was kind of a bad way to end the season,” senior Cooper Moreano said. “But we return a lot of players this year. I think we’ve put a lot of stuff together in this camp, and hopefully we can keep that going forward into the season.”

Of course, summer workouts don’t end with the conclusion of team camp. There’s conditioning each day to stay in shape and technical work.

“It’s just working on getting a head start for everyone,” Newsome said, “just making sure everyone is getting in shape early, making sure everyone is getting their touches in over the summer.”

In addition to the potential varsity returners, the incoming freshmen class was impressive during the team camp.

“I’m really thrilled with the freshmen group, to be honest with you,” Barah said. “Collectively, I haven’t seen a group like that in a while, and I’m really, really excited about them.”

But the main focus is making strides for the upcoming season. Most of the Free State starters play on club teams throughout the summer, but they do their best to make as many workouts as possible.

“We were very happy to get over 10 wins last season,” sophomore Rowan Laufer said. “We’re pretty optimistic about this season.”

Newsome added: “I’m really excited, especially after this camp and seeing all of the guys come out. We’ve been implementing new stuff, and we look really good.”