It’s a humid July weekday morning in Coffee County. From the main road, Raider Academy appears quiet, still waiting for students to begin bustling through the halls at the start of the new school year. Behind the building, it’s a different story.

Out back on the soccer field, the Lady Raiders are hard at work gearing up for the new season and the scrimmages that will precede it. While still a few weeks away from the team’s first official game, Coffee County girls’ soccer coach Megan Srofe has liked what she has seen out of this year’s group so far.

“I think we’re gonna be pretty good this year. They’ve been busting their butts all summer long and after the Maryville camp, I was very pleased with a lot of the things that I saw as the team grew from that camp, not just on the field, but off the field,” Srofe said. “We’ve got our first scrimmage (Tuesday, Aug. 4) and I’m excited to see how they go out and take everything they’ve learned this summer and put it on the field.”

This year will be one of transition for Coffee County, following the departure of a large senior class this past season. At the same time, this year’s group will see the addition of a larger freshman class, with eight listed on the roster.

While a younger team overall, that does not mean the skillsets are not already there. Srofe was quick to point out that even among Coffee County’s newer players, there is plenty of potential.

“We definitely have a younger team, but they have varsity talent,” Srofe said. “We do have a handful of experienced players that are coming back, but we did lose about seven of our seniors. We’ve got I think eight or nine upperclassmen and the rest are lowerclassmen.”

In addition to showing promise on the field, Srofe added that the younger players have been growing into the program off the field as well. In terms of building comradery, Srofe emphasized how well the team has jelled together at practice and at camp over the course of the summer.

“The chemistry this year has been so good. They’re meshing so well together,” Srofe said. “(The freshmen) came in and they just jumped in, didn’t miss a beat and they are meshing with the team and the chemistry has been really awesome.”

The positive steps taken in these two facets of the game will be key to the team continuing to move in the right direction following last year’s 6-10-1 overall record and 0-5 mark in Class 3A District 6 play.

After opening their 2025 slate with seven straight losses, the Lady Raiders began to turn things around with a draw and then four straight victories. This win streak came to an end in a 5-0 district loss to Shelbyville Central, but Coffee County went on to go 2-1 through the regular season’s remainder before falling 5-1 to Columbia Central in the first round of the district tournament.

“I’m hoping that we just hit the ground running and the upperclassmen have done a great job of leading the underclassmen and showing them the dos and the don’ts,” Srofe said. “I think we are gonna hit the ground running this preseason and then going into the start of the season. We’ve got the Coffee Cup very early on this season it feels like, but hopefully we’ll put up a fight.”

In addition to the upperclassmen leading the way, there were a few younger players in particular that Srofe expected to potentially make an impact.

“I think we’ve got a couple freshmen that are gonna turn heads. Adalyn Sherber being one, Kayda Ferrell being another one. She’s a tough one in the goal,” Srofe said. “And then Annabeth (Tidwell). She’s gonna turn some heads I think.”

Coffee County kicks off its season at home against Giles County on August 18th. Start time is scheduled for 6 p.m.