Experience. Talent. Speed.
George Alley has all of that at his disposal this season with Polk County’s boys soccer team.
But as the Wolverines prepare to kick off the 2025 season Thursday at West Henderson, Alley is still searching for perhaps the most elusive of traits – how well the team can work and play together.
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Or, as many coaches know it, the dreaded C word.
“In the beginning last year, in our first scrimmage, in the first games, we had this great chemisty in midfield with Nate (Martinez), James (Purtill) and Tanner (Osborn),” Alley said. “We don’t have that yet.
“And so that’s what I’m hoping to see in the early season, can we develop the chemistry, especiallly out of the midfield and into the attack. That’s going to be our biggest challenge in the short term.”
Fortunately for Alley, he’s got plenty of potential options at his disposal to tackle that challenge and the others that Polk will face this season.
The Wolverines feature 11 seniors, with experience returning throughout the lineup. That starts in the back line, where Will Garrison and Mason Hudson anchor a group that could be one of the strengths of the team.
“Mason and David are back there, and then Charlie (Wagoner) is returning in goal,” Alley said. “And then the addition of Ross Dow, who has been playing midfield. Ross expressed the willingness to play back there, and I played him back there in the scrimmage and it was fabulous. Adding him to the defense I think keeps us pretty strong back there.”
Junior Grayson Meyer will also see time in the back.
Seniors Tanner Osborn and Cooper Meyer return in midfield, with a large group of players there including Tallis Metcalf and Erik Pena. Meyer led Polk County last season with 17 goals and will be among the team’s top goal-scoring threats this season.
Senior Thomas Varnadore followed with 13 goals, and he heads a group of forwards that include Blake Anderson, freshman Brennan Oates, Luke Garrison and senior Sebastian Azar, who returns to the program after competing last fall with a Spartanburg-based travel squad.
Seniors Brinson Ashworth and Wyatt Highsmith along with junior Jonathan Aguirre will also see action throughout the lineup.
It’s a group with plenty of potential to make a run at matching or bettering last season’s 15-5-3 mark. The one challenge there could be a difficult non-conference schedule that includes Thursday’s trip to West Henderson as well as dates with East Henderson, Smoky Mountain, North Henderson and Asheville.
“I’m hoping maybe a couple of our out-of-conference games will be not as tough, so I can move a lot more kids through and we can find that chemistry,” Alley said.
Thanks to the North Carolina High School Athletic Association’s realignment process, Polk County returns to the Western Highlands Conference this season as well as moves into the 3A ranks in the new eight-classification model. Alley expects Hendersonville and Owen to be in the mix for the conference crown, with an Avery team that finished 9-3-1 last season also a possible contender. Madison also returns the bulk of its roster from last season’s 9-9-2 squad.
Polk County should also be in the WHC title race – assuming that magical cohesiveness develops.
“I feel like we have the potential to be better than we were last year,” Alley said. “Guys have all played another year. Probably the biggest puzzle is the center midfield, can those guys develop the chemistry and can I put the right guys in there.”
