Since winning the NCHSAA 4-A Soccer Championship in 2003, Athens Drive High has endured an uphill climb back to the top. And this year appears to be a continuation of the hike.

Of the 22 players on the team, only eight lettermen return and only five were starters a year ago.

“We have a good core of returning upperclassmen,” coach Chris Barefoot said. “The key will be the new players and how much they contribute. That will have a lot to do with our overall success.”

The Jaguars finished last season with a 12-5-2 overall record and placed third in the Tri-Seven Conference. The team’s season ended with a loss to Durham Jordan High in the second round of the NCHSAA 4-A Playoffs.

Among the many players who graduated last year were standout scorers Daniel Fish, who is now playing at N.C. State, and Adam Litowski. Their absence has caused scoring struggles for this year’s team.

“We had some good seniors last year,” senior midfielder Drew McKinney said. “Our intensity is good and we’ll come together, though. We’re not used to playing with each other yet.”

McKinney, who was the only freshman on the championship team in 2003, is expected to lead the Jaguars this year. The team plays with a 4-5-1 formation, meaning the bulk of its work and skill will be in the midfield area.

In order to make up for holes in the team’s depth, Barefoot had to make a number of position changes. Many players have had to adapt to positions they’re not accustomed to with their non-school teams, including McKinney, who is normally a defender for his club team.

“It’s sort of second nature for them to get out there and run and turn their minds off and know what they have to do (at their usual positions),” Barefoot said. “It takes a couple of weeks for them to get out of habit and get more mentally prepared and confident about what they’re doing.”

But as the team is quickly finding out, it’s going to take some time before playing comfortably together takes hold. Athens’ season-opener against Broughton High ended after almost 30 minutes of play because of lightning on Tuesday, and its first home game against Sanderson High on Wednesday ended in a 1-1 tie.

It may be too early to tell how soon and how well Athens will play as a team, but the summer workouts and preseason games seem to have had an impact.

“I think it’s going to take some time,” senior defender Josh Morris said. “But we’re starting to play together as a team and I definitely think that we’ll be strong contenders in the regular and postseason.”

As the players grow accustomed to their new roles and positions, Barefoot views this year’s roster as being similar to the past two seasons, with the team’s age and experience among the biggest challenges.

But with a younger group now comes a more mature and experienced group later. For the main starters, having more than a year under their belts has been hard to come by in the past few seasons as most of the program’s strong players graduate after only playing at the varsity level at the end of their high school career.

“The younger class is one of the top ones I’ve seen at Athens, so I’m encouraged by that,” Barefoot said. “Do I think our chances are much better in a year or two than now? Maybe. But there are always the questions of whether it’s the talent, in general, of the whole surrounding area getting better and if I get more than my fair share of good players.”

Though Athens has been in a rebuilding stage since 2003, the standards Barefoot set in his first year have remained the same. At the start of every season, he hands his players a sheet with the team rules.

From arriving at practice on time, to picking up their trash on the bus, and even the whole team having to run extra sprints if one person cheats in push-ups, the Jaguars have a clear understanding of what is expected of them on and off the field: Play like a team and act as a team.

“I think I harp on them more than other coaches on things that I consider to be just details,” Barefoot said. “But details will help make them successful. The parts make up the whole.”