If you’ve been to a Staples Soccer game recently, you may have noticed the beautiful new equipment shed right behind the players’ bench. This wonderful new shed contains a huge “block S” and all of the dates of the boy’s FCIAC and state soccer championships inscribed on the front of it.

If you were at any of the games last season, you may not have noticed this alluring structure. In it’s place, you might have seen an old worn down backstop, many years old.

“Before this great shed came to be, there was a kickboard, it never had much use, it was gross, and it even had animals rummaging through it,” Staples head soccer coach Dan Woog explained.

However, about a year ago, freshman soccer coach Chris Odell ’95, a homebuilding manager, had this great idea. His idea was to turn this kick board into a bigger, prettier, useful shed for the boys’ soccer team. And in his execution of this great idea, he was going to turn it into a team bonding experience by utilizing players from the Staples soccer squad to help with with construction.

Over last April break, Odell ’95 and 12 soccer players put the shed together with hard work and camaraderie.

One of the builders and soccer players Daniel Brill ’16, had this to say about the creation and experience, “The shed was a great team bonding experience in the summer and offseason. We all came together to build it. Before every game, I look at the shed to see all past FCIAC and state championships Staples soccer has won. This helps motivate me to play even harder every home game.”

Another contributor, Matthew Engler ’18 added, ”It was a cool way to bond with the team. And now we have a lot more room for storage.”

Woog noted the shed to be “useful” but also a “point of pride.” Moreover, it is a bit of an intimidation factor to opposing teams when they see all the previous championships.

Team bonding is something coach Woog has engrained in the Staples soccer tradition. Just recently, the team raised 300o dollars at a carwash; previously, the team has played paintball, gone on rafting trips, helped local Hurricane Sandy victims, raised money through quiz nights, and even more.

Woog expressed, “We seek out opportunities to do things off the field as team in order to bring us together on the field.”

Come check out this close-knit group of young men as they take on Fairfield Ludlowe at their next home game on Friday Oct 2nd, at 4 pm.