Blue Waves boys soccer substitutes ‘me’ for ‘we’

There’s a certain pressure on a team that knows it has the ability to win but just can’t find a way to do it. Every year, it’s the same story for the Riverhead boys varsity soccer team. The Blue Waves have never made the playoffs in its history, and new head coach Nic DeZenzo is trying to change that. 

“Last year, we felt like we had the talent to finally make the playoffs,” junior midfielder and forward Hector Calderon said. “But as the season went on and the losses started to come, it’s like we all turned on one another. We kept blaming each other and pointing the finger. It just got worse and worse.”

When the season ended, Riverhead was staring at a 2-14 overall record — wondering about what could have been.

DeZenzo comes into the program with a wealth of knowledge and experience in the sport. He’s been waiting for this opportunity and feels like he’s truly the man for the job to turn things around.

“I’ll tell you that I was pleasantly surprised when I first started working with the boys,” DeZenzo said. “They’re super talented. Young and maybe a little inexperienced, but the technical talent is definitely there.”

Only Hector Calderon returns from last year’s starting lineup, which featured mostly seniors. Calderon was a maestro in the middle of the pitch all season as a sophomore, holding possession of the soccer ball with the best of them while scoring three goals and two assists.

“Hector has really stepped up as a leader this season even though he’s only a junior,” DeZenzo said. “The boys really look up to him, and he’s been leading by example. I expect major things out of him this year both on and off the field.”

Team building exercises have been at the forefront of what DeZenzo has been trying to implement this season. Sure, there has been technical training, fitness training and formation concepts, but being a team is what he’s been putting a major emphasis on.

“Coach is really building a brotherhood here,” senior defender and midfielder Clever Herrera said. “We know that soccer isn’t an individual sport. We can only find success if all of us contribute. We need to trust each other first.”

In a training session this week, DeZenzo set up a step ladder in the middle of the field and asked the team to set up a row of players along each side of it. The coaches stepped up to the top first and all the players held out their arms. Crossing his arms from the top of the ladder, DeZenzo fell backwards and was caught by the team. Assistant coach Kevin Ghigliotti went afterward. Then each of the players took their turn.

“It’s a powerful experience,” DeZenzo said. “We want to show them first that we trust them. It goes a long way for the boys to hear that but to see it and feel it with this exercise makes a much larger impact.”

DeZenzo also sent a Phil Jackson quote to all of the boys during the week. The quote reads, “Good teams become great ones when the members trust each other enough to surrender the ‘me’ for the ‘we.’”

Part of that trust is instilled with knowing what each player’s job is on the field in every moment of the game. DeZenzo spent a good portion of practice explaining that all everyone has to do is perform their job. The instant someone tries to do too much, the whole plan falls apart.

“We all want to get better,” junior defender and midfielder Chris Contreras said. “This is the most connected we’ve ever been as a team since I’ve joined the soccer program here. We don’t want the negative energy, and I believe it’s gone now. We still have to hold each other accountable but as brothers, not as rivals.”

Riverhead opens up its season Sunday, Sept. 3, at home against William Floyd.