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When it comes to soccer, there is perhaps no other man in the Rhinelander area who is involved in the sport more than Dan Millot.

Soccer is a year-round venture for Millot. He not only coaches both the Rhinelander boys’ and girls’, but he is also one of the coaches for the U17 Central Wisconsin Select soccer team.

The select team –– which is centered out of Stevens Point –– includes many high profile players from the Wisconsin Valley Conference, including Marshfield, Stevens Point, Wisconsin Rapids, D.C. Everest and Rhinelander.

Being involved with the select team provides both the players and their parents with several opportunities that do not exist with other types of recreational-style soccer.

“One of the benefits of this league is that we have a very high focus on player development,” Millot said. “A player has a significantly better chance of being seen by college coaches here. There’s a lot of pressure to perform at this level, and whatever players are up to that type of challenge will be the ones that will likely move on and play after high school.”

This year’s select team has vastly progressed since last year when they won two games in what is called the First Division of the Wisconsin State League. The select team finished the spring season with a 5-2 record, which was good for second in the eight-team division, behind only FC Green Bay. Central Wisconsin finished ahead of Milwaukee Sport Club, Racine, Brookfield, Madison FC, Elm Grove Academy and Middleton-Yahara.

That kind of improvement is likely to catapult the team into the Premier Division next season, which is a level above where they are currently playing.

“I am pleased about the way this team has stepped up in most every aspect of the game,” Millot said. “That’s not to say we can’t get better because we definitely can, but it shows how serious the kids are about improving themselves.”

Select teams have an advantage when trying to enter elite tournaments, and when the Central Wisconsin team has done so, they’ve been particularly effective.

This summer, the U17-19 select team posted two first-place finishes in tournaments on consecutive weekends.

On June 20-22, they took first at the Sentry Soccer Classic in Stevens Point by defeating Oshkosh United, United Northwoods, Water Cities and MC United.

Then on June 27-29, Central Wisconsin again finished atop the field in the Appleton Cost Cutters Classic by beating such teams as Ashwaubenon and Fox Cities Magic.

This upcoming weekend, though, things get a little more dicey as the select team goes to Blaine, Minn. to take on some high-end competition at the Schwan’s USA Cup tourney. Central Wisconsin will play teams from both Wisconsin and Iowa and will also go up against a couple of foreign teams, including the Czech Republic.

“Minnesota will be the true test, no doubt about it,” Millot said. “We will be playing against championship-caliber teams, and then we’ll really get to see where we’re at when we play the international teams.”

Millot’s game planning depends quite a bit on what the opposing team does or does not do.

“My philosophy is to look at the personnel that I have and then try and figure out how to use it best to attack the other team,” Millot said. “On offense, I want us to dictate the tempo. If we do that, it just will be easier to execute what it is that we want to do. On defense, I tend to go with a high-pressured approach, which, if it is effective, can frustrate the opponent and then take them out of their game.”

Many sports require a great deal of in-game communication among the players in order to execute properly. In football there are audibles, in basketball screens are called out for unsuspecting defenders and in baseball pop flies are called for by the player that has the best shot at making the grab. In soccer, however, it is even more crucial, at least defensively, to be vocally in sync with your teammates. The Select team’s Brenan Millot, a Hodag junior-to-be and son of Dan, is responsible for coordinating the defense in that respect.

“We use a Slapback 4 defense where Brett Napiwocki (SPASH) and I work together to make sure everyone’s on the same page,” Brenan said. “We let our teammates know when to step and slide or when to drop.

I think it is so important to be able to talk out there because you can’t see everything around you and because of that I have to let my teammates know ahead of time if I can. One mistake can lead to a goal, and each goal is so important in a soccer game because there are so few of them in comparison to like a basketball game, which has 60 or 70 points.”

Brenan is focusing on defense with the Select team in order to make himself a complete player. As a Hodag, he has been a successful midfielder and, as such, was named Honorable Mention All-WVC last fall.

“I really enjoy playing with the Select team because there are a lot of talented players my age there, it is diverse, and I can really see where my game is at when I compare myself to them. It makes me work that much harder,” Brenan said. “I’m also looking forward to this weekend because the teams there are going to be at a very high level, but I think we’ll give anyone we play a run for their money.”

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