by Marty Zier

Sports contributor

Terry Turner steps up as the head coach of boys Vikings soccer for his third tenure at the helm. Never far from Vikings soccer, Turner has alternated between assistant and head coach for the better part of three decades and was part of Viking soccer at its inception. Turner does not have an official assistant coach.

“It’s hard to get people to commit to coaching. It’s a huge time commitment and it’s a difficult schedule,” he said.

So a new twist this year with coaching according to Turner is the inclusion of a variety of assistant coaches through the season.

“I have been working with some outstanding and skilled guest coaches that will bring fresh view points in addition to my experience,” Turner said.

Turner is very excited for the 2016-17 season despite graduating a number of seniors last year.

“We have just enough ninth graders coming, no eighth graders, we have four seniors and a lot of skilled players coming in from middle school and youth program,” he said. “I can’t emphasis enough the importance of getting good coaching in the youth programs and getting more volunteers to support Orcas Rec so the youth soccer players get the experience they will need at the high school level.”

Turner sees his Vikings challenged by the same teams as last year with Mt. Vernon Christian, Providence Christian and Friday Harbor returning as threats.