ORANGE PARK, Fla. – There is a small, well worn sign next to the locker room door at St. Johns Country Day that has seen a lot of miles.
It has been touched every time a player walks by it on their way to the pitch.
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The message may be small, but it has taken the Lady Spartans to heights that have never been seen before in the state of Florida.
"We have a brick on our wall that says 'inches' and it is just all about doing the little things," says St. Johns Country Day head coach Mike Pickett, who is in his 21st year as the head girls soccer coach. "It is there to make sure that you don't leave anything out there. If you miss one ball in a game, it could be the one that ends your season. We talk about that a lot and everybody touches the brick before they leave the locker room. If you go out 10 times, you touch it 10 times."
Senior forward Kamryn Loustau has touched the brick more times than she can remember. Its significance is not lost on her or her teammates, especially with a chance to do something that has never been done before.
"I touch it every time I walk out because it reminds me to do the little things right. Inches are what makes championships and makes runners-up too," said Loustau.
When the Lady Spartans take the pitch against Lakeland Christian on Wednesay afternoon for the Class 1A state championship, they will be going for their eighth straight state title. That is something that has never been done before by any soccer team in the state of Florida. Senior Payton Walton says that the pressure that may come from that isn't something that bothers her.
"I know that all of the girls that are on the field now and that came before us have worked so hard to get to this point," said Walton. "We just put in the hours all the time and we always talk about what winning would feel like. Especially to finish out your season as a senior on a win would be such a blessing, most people never get that in life"
According to Pickett, if his Lady Spartans want to achieve something that has taken almost a decade to attempt to accomplish, they are going to have to do it fast.
"We concentrate on trying to restart the game as fast as possible, not turning off in the game. When the ball goes out of bounds we want to get it play as quick as possible. When we get fouled, we want to put our hand on the ball and play as fast as possible. That keeps the other team under as much pressure as possible, which is to our advantage."