Todd Starr, who was recently named head boys soccer coach at Montezuma-Cortez High School, said fans who come out to watch his team play may be bored. But that will be all by designed.

"Fans will see a boring game," he remarked. "They probably won’t like to come and watch my team play. We are going to build real slow from the back. I am more interested in preventing scores than making a bunch of scores. Truly, that’s the way the game should be played. You look at why the Brazilians have been so successful and it’s because of defense. Their goalie never kicks the ball he rolls it out. Several World Cup finals have been decided by a point. But that’s the way the game should be played."

When he played the game on a more competitive basis, he was a defender.

"Defense is the name of the game and that’s what I hope to bring to these guys. Understanding that defense is not played on the defensive side of the field. It is played on the opposite side of the field," he noted.

That is not to say the Panthers this fall will not try to put the ball into the net.

"We will play an offense using short passes (Brazilian style utilized successfully by former MCHS coach Kevin McGarigal a few years back). I don’t want to discourage the upperclassmen but it will be harder for them to learn. We have a large number of freshmen and sophomores coming in. We need to get a hold of them right now and teach them that style (tactical). I think then when they are juniors and seniors it will become natural for them and it should be clicking for them. We want them to feel comfortable in playing that way," he commented.

The soccer field is divided into thirds. There is the attacking third, midfield, and back.

"In that attacking third I want them to do something dangerous with the ball. I want them to take risks, although I want them to be calculated. If they dribble on somebody and lose the ball, that’s okay just as long as they learned something. I try to tell the kids there is no such thing as a bad shot, if the shot was there in the offensive third. You are at least making the other side think," he said.

Look for the team to play the ball up the middle and then out to the wings when on offense.

"I will be happy if we win games 1-0. If we lose 1-0, then we are not getting blown out. I look for us to be competitive right at the start because of all the kids who we have coming back. If we can come down to the last 10 minutes and we are still in the game, then I’ll be happy. That’s my goal for this year," Starr said.

Starr, 36, who is a local attorney, has been playing soccer for 30 years at different levels. He has a United States Soccer Federation National Class D coaching license and he is currently working towards obtaining his Class C license. He has coached at various soccer camps and professional camps. He was on the staff of the Rocky Mountain Soccer Camp in Denver. However, this is his first head coaching at the varsity high school level. But he was head coach of a girls soccer club at Arizona State University for a year. He does have experience as an assistant coach at a high school in Council Bluffs, Neb.

After high school (Kent Denver) he played on the then farm club of the Major Indoor Soccer League’s Phoenix Inferno.

"Soccer has been a love of mine ever since I was a young boy," he said. "I started playing soccer when I was 5. And for the first two or three years I got to play in an older age group with my brother because there was not an age group at that time."

Why did Starr want to coach at MCHS and succeed Jim Schulz who resigned at the end of last season?

"I really have a love for the game. They deserve somebody who understands the game. They deserve that type of coach. It also allows me to stay active in the sport and pursue my love for the game," he said.

"I’m really excited to be the head coach. I’m looking forward to this season. Some of the younger kids coming up are out there working hard on their own. I get so excited just watching them. The difference between a team that is competitive and one that is excellent is not what happens when a coach is on the field at practice, but what they do when the coach is not around. If they are working hard touching the ball and working while I’m not there, then they will take the next step," Starr remarked.

He would like to be in for the long haul as head coach. After seeing the talent coming up, he thinks that in two or three years if the players grasp what they need to learn, will be nearly unstoppable. Soccer is such a beautiful game when it is played right, he said.

"I’m not reserved in my styling of coaching. That may rub some of them wrong. But what I hope to go out and teach these kids the best I can. I want to try and create a quality, disciplined program. If I do that, then hopefully I will survive for the long haul. If not, I will still stay active in this game. I will continue to play it and be a part of it," he said.