The high school soccer season in Iowa started on Monday of this week with the beginning of official practice. Maribel Hernandez is the girls’ head coach and Carl Behne is the head coach of the boys. Numbers of players out are nearly the same with just under 30 girls and just over 30 boys.

This is the first season of Iowa high school boys’ soccer that four classes will be used for the postseason. The combined Greene County and Paton-Churdan enrollments put the Rams in 2A. They were in 1A when there were only three classes. There are 48 programs in 2A and the Rams are the seventh smallest in enrollment.

Greene County’s girls also have a sharing program with Paton-Churdan and the Rams play in Class 2A for the first time after the IGHSAU also went to four classes instead of three. An increase of numbers out for soccer may give the Rams a better chance at fielding full varsity and JV teams, something they’ve not been able to do in recent seasons.