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09/16/2015 12:00 AMSenior Garrett Hines describes himself as someone who likes to “lead by example” on the soccer field. Throughout the past three years, Garrett’s teammates and coaches took notice of those leadership skills and responded by voting him the lone captain of the Valley Regional boys’ soccer team for the 2015 season.
“It’s a big responsibility. Being nominated by my teammates means a lot and then to be voted captain is an incredible honor, but I feel like all the seniors are leaders and our job is to help the entire team play as one unit,” Garrett says. “The best way I can do that is to go out and do things the right way to help the younger guys learn and to be the hardest worker on the team.”
Most coaches nominate several players to lead their team as captains, but Warriors’ Head Coach Mick Fearon, who was born in England, believes the European model of featuring one captain is the best strategy for his squad.
“I like to have one person in charge of the team, one person who talks to the officials during the game, and to represent our team,” Fearon says. “Garrett obviously has the respect of his teammates and works extremely hard. He’s a role model for the younger players. They look up to him and he has a lot of experience having played some varsity as a freshman. I would describe him as a person with great character—a team player who does what his coaches ask, never complains about minutes, or which position he plays.”
Garrett, who lives in Essex, will be guiding a squad that went 11-5-3 last season and finished in third place in the competitive Shoreline Conference. Garrett proved a steadying prescience from the wing position, while posting three goals with one assist in 2014. His breakout game came against Haddam-Killingworth, when Garrett scored both goals in a Warriors’ 2-1 victory. The three-year starter has seven goals and five assists in his career and, although Garrett is looking to build upon those statistics this year, that’s not what drives him.
“I’m really excited about the upcoming season. I’ve been playing travel soccer since 3rd grade with a lot of these guys and this is our last season together, which means a lot,” says Garrett. “Our goals aren’t about individual things. As a team, we’re working hard and hoping that pays off with a top-four finish in the Shoreline Conference, so we can qualify for the [Shoreline] tournament and then have a deep run in states.”
Valley lost 10 seniors off last year’s squad and so leadership is especially important with such an inexperienced group this season. According to Coach Fearon, Garrett and his fellow seniors have what it takes to accomplish the goals they’ve set for themselves.
“Garrett certainly deserves the honor of being captain and is a great young man, as all our seniors are. I believe he is up to the challenge,” Fearon says. “On the field, he’s been driven to develop his ball skills since he started here. He’s a powerful player, very quick, and he has a strong shot on goal that hopefully hits the target a lot for us this year. Garrett’s also a very selfless and versatile player who will have multiple roles for us. He’ll play some wing and some midfield depending on the matchups and that versatility and selflessness are some of the reasons he was voted captain.”
When away from the soccer field, Garrett plays point guard for the basketball team and was on last year’s squad that won the Shoreline Conference Tournament and reached the final of the Class S state bracket. Garrett also excels in the classroom. He’s made the honor roll in every quarter throughout his high school tenure and is an active member of the Student Council. He also gives back to his community by working with special needs children in the Top Soccer and Buddy Track programs.
Right now, though, Garrett is focused on being a quality leader and guiding the Warriors toward becoming the best soccer team they can be this season.
“As a freshman and sophomore, the team had a lot of success and I learned so much from the older players that came before me. We [seniors] hope to take the knowledge we gained from them and pass it on to the underclassmen,” Garrett says. “We want to have a successful season for us, but also for Coach Fearon. He’s the best coach I’ve ever had and a great mentor. He’s taught us a lot about the game and the right way to play it, but he also teaches us a lot about the things you need in life.”
Valley began its season with a home match against a tough conference foe in Cromwell and came out on top by the score of 4-2 on Sept. 12. The Warriors then played a game in Cromwell on Sept. 16. Last season, Cromwell eliminated Valley from states and so Garrett and his crew were eager to take on the Panthers once again.
“They’re going to be tough matches,” Garrett says, “Cromwell is a good program, but it will also be a great test for our team. We want to go out and compete hard and, hopefully, we can get some wins.”