In their first year of varsity play, there will be a lot of new things for the Dawson.
The second year school already has a new coach as Lori McLaughlin took over for Megan LaBernz in the summer. McLaughlin, who spent six years at Mayde Creek High School in Katy, has high expectations for the Eagles.
“All across the board, we are expecting a lot out of our kids,” McLaughlin said. “That is the only way to compete and be successful is to have high expectations. I’m not afraid of challenges, so I expect to get the girls going and get the program started the right way.”
The first year of varsity play will be a challenge for the Eagles. The team will play a challenging scheduling, including the Pearland ISD Tournament, and District 24-4A will be anything but a cakewalk with 4A state runner-up Friendswood, Angleton, Brazosport, La Marque, fellow newcomer Manvel, Santa Fe and Texas City providing stiff competition.
While a lot of first year varsity squads might want to take things slow, McLaughlin likes the competition and wants her girls to jump right into the action.
“We have to start from the beginning, and it doesn’t matter who we are playing,” she said. “We have some great competition, and I’m very excited about it. This will give us a chance to face great competition and get some good exposure for this year and for later years, so we know what to expect.”
But, McLaughlin has to get to know her team first. She admitted that the first time she was able to see the team play was during open gym at Dawson at the end of July. McLaughlin said she got to meet her team at that point, and she was eager to get things started.
Dawson had their first practice on Aug. 4 and had their first varsity game on Aug. 12. The team, which will be comprised of juniors, sophomores and freshmen, has already had one year together as a junior varsity squad last year. McLaughlin thinks that experience together will pay off this year.
“We already have good cohesiveness, and they have been able to work together for one year already,” she said. “We still have a lot of building to do, but they have the framework there. I want to start us off with a bang.”
McLaughlin will have to get used to 4A play this year after coming over from Mayde Creek as the girls get used to varsity competition. She said she is use to 5A competition, so the move to 4A means she has to learn some ins and outs and has a little work to do.
Dawson might be underestimated this year by their competition as some teams might consider the Eagles an easy win. That is fine by McLaughlin, who said she wants to see her team compete for a playoff spot this year.
“I don’t want us to be an easy match for anyone,” McLaughlin said. “We have to develop and be competitive. We want to have the most successful season we can have. Our goal is the playoffs. We are going to get our feet wet with our pre-district schedule and get some exposure, and I think we can surprise some teams and compete for the playoffs.
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