Seventeen girls will make up the Big Lake Hornet girl’s soccer squad with  their backup goalkeeper also playing JV.

Mike Turner and Kelly  Dilger as co-Head Coaches for the varsity team with Derek Holman taking on the role of the JV coach and assistant varsity coach. The team has one student manager, Jaycie Bergherr, who is in 10th grade.

Dilger has coached the Big Lake girls soccer team since the 2015-2016 season, now entering her fifth year.

“I started as the JV coach and this is my third season as the co-head varsity coach,” she said.

“I have enjoyed soccer ever since I began playing at six years of age,” said Dilger. “I played all four years at an NCAA Division-I college.”

Dilger has lived in Big Lake since 2005 and she also coached the Big Lake Boys’ JV HS team in the 2006-2007 season before she went back to graduate school to get her MS Degree in Industrial-Organizational Psychology.

“My daughter (who is now the varsity goalkeeper) started playing soccer when she was seven and I started coaching her U8 Big Lake Soccer Association (BLSA) club team at that time,” Dilger says. “I also coached an U13 boys’ team and a U13 girls’ team at BLSA.”

It was around that time that the JV coaching position opened up at Big Lake High School and Dilger thought it would be a good opportunity to continue to grow Big Lake soccer players in the community.

“When BLSA merged with Becker’s Soccer Club a few years later and became Tri-County United (TCU) Soccer Club, I decided to take the Director of Coaching (DOC) position at the club in order to help the local club team develop soccer skills in kids who were interested in playing soccer.” 

Dilger says most of the seniors that are playing this year are the same girls who she coached at U13.

“So it’s been rewarding to see them grow as soccer players throughout the years. The majority of them have verbally committed to playing soccer in college next year.”

Captains for 2020 are seniors Ava Vizenor and Mya Turner.

Dilger says all of the teams Big Lake plays in their conference are competitive, but since she has been the coach at Big Lake, she says BLHS’s biggest rival is Becker.

“We have played them a few times the last few years and it’s been back and forth,” she says. “I also have coached a few of the girls from Becker when they played for TCU.”

Due to COVID-19, Turner and Dilger have had to make a few adjustments to keep their fall season on track.

“I am happy we are having a season this year,” Dilger says. “I wouldn’t say there are any big challenges, just changes that we have to make to ensure the safety of the players and staff. We do health check questionnaires before every practice and games to make sure players are healthy and for contact tracing, which is required by MSHSL. We sanitize equipment, wear face masks, and social distance when required.”

And when it comes to coaching the skills of soccer to the young student-athletes, Dilger is certain the mental part of the game is key for success.

“Attitude is probably the hardest to teach about the game,” she says. “For example, how to keep the girls motivated to play hard when you’re losing.”

Dilger and Turner try and mix in the best combination of quality player to gain an advantage over the opponenets. Sometimes, the star players get more playing time, but the purpose of athletics is to win the game, match, set and point.

“The season is short for high school soccer, we have 11 games in seven weeks,” she says. “So the practice days between games for varsity are focused on tactics and strategy for getting the players on the same page and really play as a team.”

Dilger says the philosophy she and Coach Turner  use when determining who is ready to step up and start the game and stay in the game is based on attitude, hard work, fitness level and then skill level.

“This team has been one of the most competitive teams since I have been the coach at Big Lake,” she says.

The girls soccer team includes: Trinity Zoccoli, Mackenzie Cypull, Abby Polacec, Rylie Sternquist, Kelsey Meyer, Emily Steen, Sophia Lange, Halle Holman, Lexi Moen, Lauren Huver, Ava Vizenor (captain), Kadyn Dilger, Mya Turner (captain), Savannah Baker, Lilly Berglund and Kaycie Jacob.