March 6, 2020
By: Dwayne Page
The DeKalb County High School Tiger Soccer team will host a Pre-Season Play Day Saturday and fans are urged to come out to see their team in action.
(Listen to WJLE’s Soccer Tiger Talk program below with Coach K and Tigers Bill Miller and Alan Munoz hosted by John Pryor)
Competition will begin at 9 a.m. and continue until around 4 p.m. featuring the Tigers along with Macon County, Cannon County, and Westmoreland.
The regular season starts Tuesday, March 10 with a district match at Stone Memorial in Crossville starting at 6:30 p.m. followed by a junior varsity game.
Tiger Coach Dylan Kleparek is about to embark on his 18th season and he couldn’t be more excited. Although the program lost 12 veteran players from last year due to graduation, Coach K expects the returning players to work hard and be competitive.
“We have 23 kids on the team this year which is a low number for us but we have some quality players. We have a good group of seniors who are good leaders and hard working guys and some juniors with a lot of experience who will help us out too. Probably our top two seniors are Bill Miller and Alan Munoz. Those guys have a lot of playing time with the high school team and travel soccer. We also have two people with goalie experience including Alex Soto who played Junior varsity last year and Luke Jenkins who played as a freshman,” he said.
Coach K said while Cumberland County may be the team to beat in the district again this season he expects his team to be competitive.
“Traditionally we have a very strong district. Cumberland County went to state last year and they are probably at the top of the district right now. Livingston had a young team last year but they were very strong so I expect them to be a tough team. Stone Memorial usually fields a pretty tough team as well but they lost quite a few players and they have a new coach so they are an unknown right now. Upperman had a very young team last year with no seniors so they will have everyone back this year and their coach will be in his second year. I think our district as a whole will be pretty competitive so we will have our work cut out for us,” said Coach K.
The Tigers will have a soccer field they can call their own this season. The new complex was actually completed in time for the Lady Tiger soccer season last fall.
“It’s a phenomenal field and a great advancement for our program. We are grateful for the opportunity to have this. We now have a lot more space to work with and a place to call home,” added Coach K.
The 2020 DCHS BOYS SOCCER SEASON SCHEDULE is as follows:
Saturday, March 7: Pre-Season DeKalb Playday- Home: 9:00 a.m.
Regular Season:
Tuesday, March 10: *Stone Memorial-Away: 6:30 p.m. followed by JV game
Thursday, March 12: Smyrna-Away: 4:30 p.m. followed by JV game
Monday, March 16: *Upperman-Home: 5:00 p.m.
Tuesday, March 17: *Cumberland County-Away: 6:30 p.m. followed by JV game
Friday, March 20: Sunday, March 22: Smoky Mountain Cup: TBA
Tuesday, March 31: *Livingston Academy-Away: 6:30 p.m. followed by JV game
Thursday, April 2: Warren County-Away: 6:00 p.m. followed by JV game
Thursday, April 9: *Upperman-Away: 6:00 p.m. followed by JV game
Tuesday, April 14: *Cumberland County-Home: 5:00 p.m.
Thursday, April 16: *Stone Memorial-Home: 5:00 p.m.
Tuesday, April 21: *Livingston Academy-Home: 5:00 p.m.
Thursday, April 23: White County (Senior Night)-Home: 5:00 p.m.
Tuesday, April 28: Lebanon-Away: 6:00 p.m. followed by JV game
Thursday, April 30: Merrol Hyde-Home: 5:30 p.m.
POST SEASON:
Monday, May 4: 1st Rounds of District Tournament-TBA
Tuesday, May 5: 2nd Round of District Tournament- Cumberland-TBA
Thursday, May 7: District Championship- Cumberland-TBA