Despite loss to Lakeland Christian, Winamac’s Badallo encourages love of soccer

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS

Sports Editor, RTC

ARGOS — The Winamac boys soccer team lost to Lakeland Christian 9-0 in a Class 1A, Sectional 36 semifinal at Argos’ Eugene Snyder Field on Oct. 9, ending coach Carlos Badallo’s first season as coach.

Winamac finished 6-11. They won four games last year and three games two years ago.

The Warriors were coming off a 4-2 win over North Miami two days earlier in the quarterfinals. Sean Stark had a hat trick in that game.

“The main strategy was to play as hard as we know, communicate, do our passing and try to stay on their side of the field and attack,” Badallo said. “Unfortunately, they have a lot of good players, and they move the ball very well.”

Lakeland Christian’s Jashawn Zelasko had a hat trick within the first 23 minutes and finished with four goals. Katie Reimink, Zaiden Miller, Aiden Yoder, Jazzden Wyatt and Eli Clemens had one goal each.

Lakeland Christian led 6-0 at halftime. Once Lakeland Christian built a nine-goal lead, the game ended with 20 minutes left, per the IHSAA Mercy Rule.

“To not put your head down,” Badallo answered when asked what his message was to the team after the game. “To continue to evolve. To be happy for what we’ve achieved. And to think about the offseason. We’ve got to continue to practice and to develop and to keep touching the ball and getting our foot skills up.

Badallo said he spent the season trying to improve the players’ skills.

“That was the goal – to try to get them better and to love the sport,” Badallo said. “That was the main goal. And I think they’ve increased their knowledge significantly, and hopefully, they love the sport a lot better.”

Winamac had seven freshmen and six sophomores on their roster.

“It’s great because we have a lot of years together,” Badallo said. “I actually started coaching a few of them in middle school, so we have a lot to continue to learn, and I’d like to keep getting better. We’ll get there.”

Badallo grew up in Mexico. He said he started playing when he was 4 and continued playing all the way through the National Polytechnical Institute there. He said he played on upper level teams there before moving to the United States, where he said he played “a little bit more.”

He has worked as an engineer at BraunAbility in Winamac for seven years, and he has lived in town for three years.

“I really learned the game when I was younger on the club team that I played for,” Badallo said. “It was called Atletico Independiente. That’s where I really learned most of my skills. And then playing at higher levels, you just keep increasing your knowledge.”