South launches new coed soccer team

By John E. Powers, Sports Writer
   WEST AMWELL — Rene La Gala has always wanted to coach.
   Last year, she coached middle school field hockey and softball and the South Hunterdon High School girls junior varsity basketball team.
   Now the Garfield native gets a chance to start a program.
   La Gala is the coach of the South Hunterdon Middle School coed soccer team. The team will open its seven-game season with a home game against East Amwell Sept. 17.
   ”We want to build soccer and make a good base for soccer for boys and girls,” said La Gala, a 1998 Garfield High School graduate, who got her college education at William Paterson University. “I think we’re going to attract a wide variety of kids. We’re going to focus on fundamentals and build up through experience. We’ll probably get some new kids to soccer and others who have played the game before.”
   La Gala, a shortstop during her high school days, who now does triathlons, has played club soccer. She also works for the World Class Soccer Camp in Clifton. The camp is led by current United States U-16 Women’s National head coach Kazbek Tambi, who is a former New York Cosmos and U.S Olympic captain.
   ”There really are some of the best coaches in the world working the camp,” she said.
   LaGala said she is the kind of coach who loves to get on the field with her players and instruct and scrimmage. Practices will be fun, she said.
   ”We want to build in numbers,” she said. “Maybe we can pull more kids into the world of athletics. Maybe the kid who hasn’t been doing anything will be attracted to soccer. Maybe we can get 20 percent more of our kids involved in sports.”
   La Gala, 27, who taught at Liberty Academy Charter School in Jersey City, teaches physical education and health at the middle school and high school levels at South Hunterdon. La Gala said she hasn’t met with her team yet, but she will contact parents.
   Practice will begin when school opens, athletic director Ron Peterson said. He said soccer could become part of the varsity schedule, depending on the popularity of it.
   ”It’s a trial period for a couple of years,” Peterson said. “We’ll see what the numbers are. The whole thing started because it was something the kids want. It’s really up to the administration to decide. If the numbers are really strong, we’ll have no choice (but to add it). I anticipate anywhere from 15 to 25 to sign up.”