GREENVILLE — The Greenville Lady Wave varsity soccer team got an early opportunity to learn, compete and grow Saturday afternoon, hosting the Coldwater Lady Cavaliers for a preseason scrimmage in the sweltering heat of early August.
For second-year Greenville coach Anthony Selvera Damon, the scrimmage was about much more than the final result. With a young and inexperienced roster that includes several players new to the sport, Damon viewed the afternoon as another step toward building a winning culture.
“I think we learned a lot,” Damon said. “I think it was a learning process.”
Damon enters his second season leading the Lady Wave after being named the 2025-26 Miami Valley League Coach of the Year. Despite facing low roster numbers, he remains upbeat about Greenville’s potential and hopes to build on the four victories the Lady Wave earned last season.
A major goal is changing the mindset surrounding a program that has struggled to consistently put wins on the board. That made Saturday’s preseason matchup valuable for a Greenville squad still finding its identity.
“This is the one game that we can learn from, we can grow from, and I think we learned a lot,” Damon said. “I think they all learned something individually. We have a lot of new players this season who have never played soccer before, so I think the importance of this game is they learn something individually about themselves coming out of this game.”
Player numbers have been a recurring concern for both the Greenville boys and girls soccer programs. Damon said simply having enough players to fill positions is not the ultimate answer. He wants players who are committed to competing and improving.
“They need to play when they’re on the field,” Damon said. “You don’t need the kids just to fill a slot, but you need numbers that want to play. It has to be a passionate thing, and you can see it.”
Preseason scrimmages give Damon an opportunity to evaluate more than soccer skills. They allow him to see which players are willing to compete when given an opportunity.
“When we play these scrimmages where I try to get everyone in, regardless of skill, it gives me a chance to really see who really wants to be out there and who doesn’t,” Damon said. “You got to have the heart to want to be here.”
Greenville originally had nearly 22 players available for the season, according to Damon, but injuries and health issues have reduced the roster by about four players.
That will test the Lady Wave’s depth as the season progresses, but Damon wants his players focused on moving the program forward and replacing losses with wins.
“You got to get rid of the L’s, want to have the W’s,” Damon said. “I really hope they take that into consideration as we move on through the season.”
While Damon acknowledged the smaller roster will present challenges, Saturday’s scrimmage provided another opportunity for a developing Lady Wave team to gain valuable experience before the games begin to count.
“This is a really low roster for the season,” Damon said. “This is gonna be a hurdle.”
It is a hurdle Damon and the Lady Wave will look to clear together as Greenville enters the new season determined to learn, compete and add more W’s to the win column.
