Hardrocker men’s soccer ready to kick off inaugural season RAPID CITY – The South Dakota School of Mines men’s soccer team is eager to kick off the first ever season. With an immense amount of preparation in a short period of time, Hardrocker head coach Joe Burger has assembled a program the School of Mines, the Rapid City community and all constituents will be proud of. Burger arrived to Rapid City in February with deeprooted goals and a long term vision for the program. "It’s all about the long term goals. You’re setting short term goals too but you also have to have a bigger vision. It’s not always picking the best players, but the players who are the best fits. The worst thing you can have is a setback,” Burger said. First and foremost Burger worked diligently to ensure he and the athletics program had the right student-athletes in place to develop a culture and environment that will harvest success for years to come. “We’ve gone about it methodically; I’ve brought in 16 new players and four off the club team. Then when they're sophomores, we’ll add 10 to 12 more players and get the numbers right,” Burger said. As a result, the 2012 roster is compiled of studentathletes from South Dakota, Nebraska, Wyoming, Colorado, Minnesota, Wisconsin, California, Ohio, Texas, Australia and Norway. Each member of the program was selected precisely to impact the team on and off the field in their own unique way.
Furthermore, each student-athlete chose to attend South Dakota School of Mines to meet their academic, athletic and social needs to prepare them for life after soccer. Burger and assistant coach Luke Schweitzer, could not ask for a better group of articulate young men with the right mentality to start a program. Day in and day out the team accelerates its learning curve, competes to make each other better, grows closer together as a unit, and is determined to make a difference on and off the playing surface. The 2012 season entails a competitive 13 game schedule. The majority of matches are away contests, allowing the soccer team to travel and utilize each trip as an educational experience. The team will travel to Lakewood, Colo., Jamestown and Bismarck, N.D., Billings and Great Falls, Mont., and Aberdeen and Mitchell, S.D. The most exhilarating games of the season will be the three home contests on Sept. 15 and 16 and Oct. 27. The Hardrockers will play their home games at Sioux Park in the center of Rapid City. The Hardrocker soccer team is highly awaiting their opportunity to play in front of the SD Mines supporters and the Rapid City community. The Hardrockers’ open its season at Colorado Christian University4 p.m. The anticipation builds each day to compete against an opponent for the first time in program history. It is going to be a proud
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