The AP/DNH boys soccer team will have a new head coach for its fifth season. After serving as an assistant, Cody Cummings has taken over after Perry Bernard stepped down at the end of last season.
“I didn’t grow up playing soccer, so I kind grew into it with my kids and found the love for the sport,” Cummings says. “Then our former head coach Perry Bernard started the program and I was there in support of that. And just the last couple of years, I’ve signed on to assistant coach under him, and Perry just built a great program. Lots of bought-in kids, a very good culture of work ethic and support and positivity. And so that was really great to come up under. And now as his sons have graduated and he stepped away from the boys side, it’s nice to step into the leadership role there.”
The team is working to replace nearly every starter from last year’s team that went 11-4-1 and reached a substate final. Cummings is excited for what some of the underclassmen have shown so far.
“It’s a little difficult. We’ll say I have one returning starter, another two or three that got some good minutes. But the nice thing for me is this freshman class has my oldest son. I brought up him and a couple of his friends in coaching as a rec team. And so I know a lot of the young kids and again, working with the program last couple of years, I know these other kids. Last week during spring break, we ran some pretty intense practices, working on injury prevention, fitness, ball work, and just getting the kids to really push themselves and own their journey here.”
Despite needing to replace many starters, Aiden Merrill is back for his junior season after leading the team with 20 goals scored last year.
They’ll begin the season on Monday, March 30 by hosting Clear Lake.
Cody Cummings interview:
