The 2013 soccer season at Penn State Wilkes-Barre will be very exciting. Several upperclassmen will be returning to the team, which will be led by a new head coach. Head coach James Bell will be focusing on teamwork rather than individual success. Bell said, "My strategy is and has always been to have my team play as a team, because one person can't take on the eleven others." The team will also be more challenged this season by being required to come to practice and given a difficult preseason workout schedule in order to be ready for the regular season. It will be important for the upperclassmen to use their leadership roles in order to show recruits good work ethics.
Last season the team struggled with consistency due to players being out of shape and not coming to practice daily. This season winning will be the main goal but the idea is to have fun as well. Bell wants to also teach students lessons that can be used in real-world situations. James Bell said, "At this age, like so many of us know, we are caught between being a kid and being an adult. I'm going to do my best to bridge the gap between the two." Bell wants to learn from his players as well as have them learn from him. This spring the team will be having a mini preseason in order to get used to the new coaching style. After this school semester the team will be given summer strength and conditioning schedules.
Despite the inconsistencies last season, the team performed well most games, only losing by a goal or two. Bell is very confident that the team will be extremely competitive within the conference this season. Coach Bell believes the team may even be in the running with Penn College for the conference title. "It's going to take a lot of hard work from the players, as well as from me to get to that point but I do believe that it is possible," said Bell. There is no doubt that this upcoming season is something to be very optimistic about. The soccer program at Penn State Wilkes-Barre is moving in the right direction.