Huw Williams is patiently waiting as the high school soccer season commences in Missouri and Kansas.

Unlike some club coaches, the KCFC Intensity U16 Girls mentor doesn’t begrudge his players’ involvement in scholastic sports, but he is eager to see the squad get back together. Last season the team took the U.S. Youth Soccer Region II Championship at U15.

“The hardest thing about high school is I get the girls back at the end of May and the (Kansas) State Cup is literally a week later,” he said. "That’s tough. I get the Kansas girls for one week. I don’t get the Missouri girls at all.”

Surprisingly, fitness is one of the main issues the girls coming back from high school bring with them.

“Absolutely we have to work on their fitness which is puzzling in some ways since they’ve been playing, but mostly they come back not in the shape we expect them to play in,” he said. “The other big challenge is that we like to knock the ball around as a team. We’ve been together for a while but it still takes us a couple of weeks to get really sharp after high school.”

Still, Williams sees the high school season as a positive.

“The level of play is certainly a step down, but I think it’s good for them to get away from me for a little bit. It gives more players a chance to show leadership and high school can offer things like school spirit, playing with their peers and in front of their peers that we can’t,” he said. “If we played year-round club soccer I think we’d have better soccer players, but it might take away from them developmentally as people.”

That said, Williams is looking forward to seeing what the group can accomplish this year.

“Of all the teams I coach, there is something different about them. It’s tough to put a finger on it. They are a close-knit group. They do a lot of things socially together even through they are from all over the Kansas City area. Even the parents do things together,” he said. “These kids sacrifice other things 16-year old girls are doing. They have to give that up a lot of times, but they are very competitive, It’s a cliché but as a group they will find a way. They have a lot of pride and also a lot of confidence.”

Looking at the team you start with a goalkeeper tandem of Caroline Stanley and Sydney Pugh. Stanley is a tall physical presence in the back who communicates well, while Pugh is an agile shot-stopper credited with being a key performer in a win over Slammers in last year’s nationals. She is one of three players on the squad, along with midfielders Caroline Gray and Molly Rappold, who have committed to play college soccer at Nebraska.

A starting back three includes marking backs Alexis Johnson (recovering from an ACL and a strong ball-winner) and Madelyn Buckner (left-footed powerhouse who takes all set pieces and strikes the ball very well) and free back Haley Fritzlen, who is a consistent, composed presence in the back who likes to knock the ball around.

Midfielder Caroline Gray is the tempo player who Williams says “we need to be touching the ball a lot.” Molly Rappold is a direct 1v1 player in midfield who is also good in the air.

Allison Goechenour is a tall and technical midfielder who can score goals and pass with accuracy. Katie Davis and Kelsey Goff split time between the wings. Davis is a speedster with a lot of assists, while Good exudes technical ability.

National pool player Shea Groom is a very tenacious attacker. She has pace and a good change of pace and has an edgy quality that make a difference in big matches. Bethany Smith is a classic British center forward able to play with her back to the goal, hold the ball and turn her marker. Williams said he makes a great complement to Groom in the forward third.