Coaches Corner: Western Christian’s Sou Baccam reminds team to ‘be who we are’ entering state tournament

HULL, Iowa (KTIV) - The Iowa high school state soccer tournament is just two days away, and one team getting ready to make some noise in their third consecutive appearance at state is the Western Christian boys soccer team.

The Wolfpack finished as runner ups in 2021 and 2022, and they return once again with some key pieces who are highly motivated. There has been a history of success when it comes to Western Christian soccer, but head coach Sou Baccam will be the first to credit his players who put in all of the hard work.

“A lot of it goes to the kids. Yeah, obviously I coach them and stuff like that, but we can’t have a successful program without the kids. The kids have been very dedicated to our program. Some of them have been playing in leagues in the summer. Some of them have been playing leagues in the winter. So it’s a testament to the kids, not just these kids on this team this year, but the last six or seven years,” said coach Baccam.

When the Wolfpack punched their ticket to the state tournament, coach Baccam said this group rose to the challenge. Many players stepped up after graduating 12 seniors from last year’s runner up team.

“We brought in a bunch of new kids, some younger kids, and so forth. But I knew going into the season that we had really some key pieces coming back. And it’s just a testament again, to these kids, and the guys that were returning. It helps to have experience too. So that plays a big part of it, too” said coach Baccam.

It has been a special journey for the entire Baccam family when it comes to Western Christian soccer. Coach Baccam played for Western Christian himself during his high school years, and now has been coaching the program for 14 years.

“I played for Western Christian, and it’s been a big part of my life. So pretty happy with leading this team. I mean, if you would have asked me in high school if I were to lead this team later on, I would have said absolutely not. But I’m glad I get this honor of doing that,” said coach Baccam.

Western Christian earned the two seed and is set to face #7 Treynor in the Class 1A quarterfinals on Tuesday, May 30th at 10:30 a.m. Coach Baccam shares more on this year’s team and previews the upcoming state tournament on this week’s Coaches Corner.

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