Leeder Throws Martelli Under the Bus

Georgia State Womens Soccer wants to start from scratch

By Tom Terry III

Published: Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Updated: Tuesday, February 21, 2012 18:02

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After having an unsatisfactory season that resulted in Coach Domenic Martelli being fired, the Panthers are ready to start on a clean slate with a new coaching staff. Georgia State's first-year head coach Derek Leader believes in spite of having a disappointing season, finishing ninth in the standings, the team has a lot of potential to be a winning team.

Leader is very different from Martelli. Leader wants his team to be more structured; a lot more demanding and want things to be done in certain way and Evan agrees. "They're very different. Coach Derek was more strict with structure he wants a lot of order. Coach Martelli was more like go with the flow and things will work out."

Evans believes that one of biggest lesson learned from last season is being more attentive. "We're trying to be more focused on doing what we have to get done, so I think there were a lot of distractions, a lot things going on last season with our coach's job on the line," said Evans. "This season we're just trying to get focused."

Last season, eight of GSU's dozen losses were decided by just one goal, so Leader will be tasked with figuring out a way to help the Panthers to close out soccer games. "We learn to play to the very end because a lot times we would get be up one goal and we would get comfortable and then the other team would come back in the last second of the game," said Evans, "I think we learn to play until the last minute of the game."

Coach Leader wants to be more organized preparing his team to play the opponents this would include health and nutrition. "Basically sustaining a level of fitness to perform two weekend matches is vitally important to me," said Leader, "I learned a lot about nutrition and hydration. I learned how to really take and treat the athletes very well."

Although Leader's attitude towards nutrition might be different from what many players are used to, the Panthers seem to be embracing the new culture. Senior Sarah Bennett believes that nutrition can make the team better. "Eating was more of a privilege with [Martelli] rather than a responsibility," said Bennett. "With Derek it's pretty much performance based on the nutrition you put in your body, so it's very regimen and very serious and very health conscious."

"We want to make sure to recover the athlete, so we can perform in the next day or training session, said Leader, "We want to make sure that from a health and eating standpoint that they're prepared. " Coach Leader also wants the girls know how much to eat so they can fuel their bodies from a carbohydrate intake and protein and so they eat enough helpfully to perform.

The Panthers did not put together the season they had hoped for with an overall record of 7-12-1 and 4-3-1 in CAA conference play. Coach Leader believes that his coaching style can make a difference. "We're dealing with accountability we're holding the athletes to a higher standard," said Leader. "We're trying to make the athletes accountable to themselves and to their teammates and we'll get the soccer later. Right now, we're trying to make sure self-interest isn't greater than the team interest."

The Panthers squad has set a goal to win the conference. Overall, Coach Leader believes his team is coming together quite well and his players realize that the team is the most important thing. "The team has worked hard in an effort to build morale and camaraderie but they're learning how to do it without self-interest," said Leader. "That's how we're going to be successful and until that point we won't find success."

The Panthers have the chance to start from scratch in the season opener is against North Georgia on March 10. For more schedule information go to www.georgiasports.com