LFC look to get more from themselves as second half of season kicks off

By Lethbridge Herald on June 23, 2023.

LFC head coach Davin Haigh

By Justin Seward

Lethbridge Herald

The Lethbridge Football Club men’s Alberta Major Soccer League team are entering the second half of the schedule today after what has been many tests and improvement points  in the first six games of the campaign.

“I think for me it was definitely a test from the point of view that this team gives the soccer community a sense of coming together because it’s split with guys who play youth, guys who  play just men’s league and then guys who are on the college and the university (teams),”  said first-year head coach Davin Haigh, who is also the University of Lethbridge’s men’s soccer coach.

“So there was a little bit of a period where it was like they had to  get to know each other and we didn’t have much of a preseason to be honest but we started strong  …We were (2-1) after our first three games and then we started playing some of the more veteran teams and it was a good test for the guys to kind of see, OK we still have a lot to improve but we have more to give as well.”

It was over the last couple of weeks, that the team’s main discussions were around can the players test themselves more and ask more of themselves.

“Because playing the second leg against teams, we don’t know,” said Haigh.

“They might have different players; they could be better and those are uncontrollables for us. So what we need to focus on is how are we going to get more out of ourselves (in) this second half of the season.”

Haigh’s expectation going into the season was to see if LFC could compete with the top teams in the AMSL.

“I think we did that very well,” he said.

“Our first loss at home against the (Calgary) Callies, we end up getting a red card and a 2-1 result’s not bad, like we kept the game close, and I think the biggest thing for our group is we’re young (and) to try and manage games better and develop that maturity.”

The coaching staff wants the  team to feel an identity and a sense of intention on the field.

“And letting them have a bit of autonomy too though,” said Haigh.

“Like I always tell them some of the best teams I have been a part of, there’s a level of autonomy where the players get to express themselves and that’s always a challenge as  sometimes it’s managing, OK, well,  if they’re expressing themselves this way, is this  going against the grain and what the team’s trying to do or is it going with the grain. So we always have, you know, certain principles that they relate too. But they’re general so that they can actually kind of take that information and make it better on their own. And then as a coach, when I see it on the field, it’s an improved version of the theory that we’ve given.”

LFC opens up the second half against Calgary Villains today at Servus Sports Centre Outdoor Field at 2 p.m.

“The focus is can we ask a little bit more from ourselves,” said Haigh.

“I always try and tell them the season’s developmental, it’s a process. We may have started the season high and fly and running guns a blazing. But we’ve now kind of hits some road blocks and this is where we need to adjust to see how we gain that momentum back and (today) is going to be another test.”

LFC beat the Villians 1-0 in the  first match of the season back in May.

LFC has a record of three wins and three losses and are only two points out of first place in their division.