Tag Papillion-La Vista High School

At Nebraska Soccer Talk, we love covering everything soccer related. For the most part, that means covering games and providing analysis/opinions. However, our overall mission and purpose is far reaching and ambitious. Our goal is to bring the soccer community closer together through collaboration and communication.  There are countless people that deserve recognition for their efforts as a player, official, or coach. Throughout the season, we will be highlighting these individuals through our Get To Know Me articles.

This will be a series made up of three different components. All of which are meant to bring attention to the soccer community.

1. Get To Know Me (Coach Edition) – These individuals are responsible for building their programs, growing the game of soccer, and mentoring the next generation. We look forward to learning about their lives and philosophies.
2. Get To Know Me (Player Edition) – This article series will focus on high school juniors and seniors that have demonstrated themselves to be quality players and people. With these features, our community will learn about some of the most impressive players in the state.
3. Future of the Game – This article series will focus on the freshmen and sophomore classes. These are players that we will be covering for years to come.

Thank you to every individual that provided information for this idea. We appreciate your thoughtful and timely responses.

Andre Watts

Name of High School Program: Papillion LaVista Monarchs Boys  (11th year)

 Club Team: Gretna Elite Academy Girls 2013 assistant

Occupation Outside of Coaching: Elementary Art Teacher Portal and Golden Hills Elem

Favorite Professional Soccer Team: Liverpool

Soccer Idol (Player or Coach): Brazilian Ronaldo

Who would you consider to be your soccer mentor? What is the story behind your selection? How did they help you in your soccer journey?

Jay Mims-Union Omaha-Back when he was with Creighton we played on several indoor and outdoor teams together and have always just talked soccer.  When he was at UNO I was able to attend practices and training sessions.  Over the years, he has always been someone willing to share ideas with young coaches.  He even provided a free leadership seminar over the Covid break in 2020. Jay has gone out of his way to include me in some amazing soccer experiences.

Describe a favorite soccer memory that you have been involved with. This memory could be from your playing or coaching experiences. Tell us the story and impact of this memory.

Getting to the state semifinal in 2019 a year after we had only won 4 total games in the previous season.  You start to question if what you are doing is reaching the student-athletes and then something like this run we went on validates everything and provided memories that will last a lifetime.

List and describe three important pillars or values of your program. What is the culture of your program built on? What do they mean to you? 

-Quality-Family, School, and Soccer

-Giving Back-Community

-Enjoy the Process as success comes in many forms.

I try to provide a variety of opportunities for my players to grow as individuals within their family, school, and team.  We feel that giving back is important as all of the people came before them provided the opportunities that they now take part in. The experience should be a fun one…don’t get so caught up in outcomes as much as enjoying each soccer opportunity and time with the team while learning how to play the game.

What is your motivation for coaching? This is a time-consuming and challenging occupation. Why do you do it? 

I guess it’s all tied to that idea of giving back. So many people in my younger years provided quality coaching to me and it’s my turn to pay it forward.  The relationships you build with your players are what keep me in the coaching world. I now have a few former players who are getting into coaching themselves and being a mentor to them is very rewarding.

Thank you for reading and being a part of our new community. A like, share, comment or recommendation of content would be greatly appreciated. In order to financially support our efforts, sponsorship/partnership opportunities have become available. Sponsors will receive vast exposure to the Nebraska soccer community through different media avenues. The sponsorship process is easy and reasonable.

Contact us on our website or email @ nebraskasoccertalk@gmail.com.

Connect with us on Twitter, Instagram, or listen to our podcast.

Chace Hutchison

By itself the final scoreline of this matchup gives the impression that this was a comfortable victory for Gretna. In reality, this was a wonderful night of soccer from both sides as they put their skills on display. There was as much talent on this field as you will find in the state of Nebraska.

Overall, there were a total of seven known Division I prospects sharing the field. Most of these players are in their junior or senior season. However, that number will surely increase in the coming years as the talented underclassmen begin the recruitment process.

This game was competitive for seventy-eight minutes until the Dragons closed with two late goals. Both teams moved the ball efficiently and looked very organized. Highlight reel worthy free kicks from both squads provided clear high points of the night. Our observations confirmed that Gretna and Papillion-La Vista are legitimate title contenders in 2021. 

Game Result – Gretna 5     Papillion-La Vista  2

Women of the Match – Madelyn White & Allison Marshall

NEST Quick Hits 

• Sarah Weber is a general for her team from start to finish. Her positioning on the field, as well as her communication, set her apart from many. The University of Nebraska-Lincoln is getting a very talented player. Her goal off of a free kick opportunity was wonderful to watch. 
• Gretna is closing the gap on Lincoln East for that #1 ranking. Lincoln East is an excellent team, and they have done nothing but win. However, the Dragons have performed to the highest of standards during the first portion of the season. 
• Gretna has an excellent group of youngsters that are ready to keep the program in title contention for years to come. Madelyn White is an ultra speedy attacker that is only in her sophomore season. Her attitude and work rate provide a great foundation. Allison Marshall is a name to know for the next three years. Although she was not featured in the starting lineup, the dynamic of the game changed once she entered at forward. 
• Lauryn Anglim was the standout performer for the Monarch side in this match. She was dangerous with the ball at her feet. The future Husker put on a show with her highlight worthy free kick. It was a textbook approach and a fabulous moment of soccer. 
• An interesting discovery that should be noted was the absence of Ella Guyott. Guyott was expected by many to be a key contributor for the Monarchs. However, she is listed as a student manager and did not see the field.  

Thank you for reading and being a part of our new community. A like, share, comment or recommendation of content would be greatly appreciated. In order to financially support our efforts, sponsorship/partnership opportunities have become available. Sponsors will receive vast exposure to the Nebraska soccer community through different media avenues. The sponsorship process is easy and reasonable.

Contact us on our website or email @ nebraskasoccertalk@gmail.com.

Connect with us on Twitter, Instagram, or listen to our podcast.

Chace Hutchison

Previewing an upcoming season is never an easy task. To do so properly takes countless hours of emails, observations, statistical research, conversation, and reflection. Adding onto that difficulty are challenges, such as a cancelled 2020 season and lingering COVID restrictions, making our preview preparation feel almost impossible.

Despite these obstacles, the approaching 2021 season and its participants – whether that be players, coaches, fans, or families – deserve some semblance of normalcy. Soccer in Nebraska and all those who participate deserve to be promoted. Over the course of the next several weeks, NEST will overview EVERY high school soccer program in our state. This was done to the best of our ability using all of the information we could collect.

Nebraska Soccer Talk is here to support many fantastic teams, coaches, players, fans, and referees that make our game possible. One mission of this venture is to discover and centralize newsworthy information. This can only be done in collaboration with individual programs. As a whole, our sport must better promote itself in order to grow the player and supporter pool. We encourage every team to proudly and consistently advertise itself to us and the general public. The more information available, the more our game will grow. Soccer is a game historically left behind to linger in the background in the United States. That circumstance is changing, but that change will not happen automatically. Growing and covering all aspects of our sport will take effort from all of those who love it.

Disclaimer – To prepare for these articles, a questionnaire was sent to every school’s head coach and athletic director. Many of these questionnaires were returned in a timely fashion, others were not. Nebraska Soccer Talk prides itself on equal and in-depth coverage, but cooperation is needed to meet that goal. Please consider this to be our reasoning when it comes to article length and accuracy.

Papillion-La Vista

Head Coach – April Kelcher

Previous Records

Players to Watch – 

• Mykena Turner (South Dakota State University soccer signee)
• Claudia Wilson (Midland University soccer signee)
• Ella Guyott (University of Nebraska-Lincoln soccer commit)
• Lauryn Anglim (University of Nebraska-Lincoln soccer commit)
• Lauren Schmidt (University of Nebraska-Omaha soccer commit)

State Status – Front Runner, Contender, Dark Horse, Up-And-Coming, Building, Too Early To Tell

Previous Season Accomplishments – 2019 Class A State Qualifier

NEST Analysis – 2021 could be a banner year for the Papillion-La Vista girls soccer program as they look to improve upon their 2019 state qualification. Rarely does so much talent occupy the same school at the same time, it is a circumstance engineered by hard work and luck. Adding to the excitement is the fact that the Monarch’s backline, midfield, and attack will all feature a Division I recruit. With Mykena Turner, Ella Guyott, and Lauryn Anglim on the field, Papio will feature one of the state’s most star studded lineups. For Coach Kelcher and her program, a year of high expectations is right around the corner. Papillion-La Vista will begin the season as the #3 team in Class A according to Nebraska Soccer Talk.

Thank you for reading and being a part of our new community. A like, share, comment or recommendation of content would be greatly appreciated. In order to financially support our efforts, sponsorship/partnership opportunities have become available. Sponsors will receive vast exposure to the Nebraska soccer community through different media avenues. The sponsorship process is easy and reasonable.

Contact us on our website or email @ nebraskasoccertalk@gmail.com.

Connect with us on Twitter, Instagram, or listen to our podcast on Spotify.

Chace Hutchison