It’s great to be back. I say this every year, but this is a great group of kids and coaches and it’s just fun to be back out here with them.”

Head Football Coach Dana Strain

All seven fall sports have a week of practice under their belts in preparation for the 2025 high school sports year. Volleyball, Boys and Girls Soccer, Girls Tennis, Girls Swim and Dive, Cross Country and Football officially started their season on August 11 with practices. The earliest true contest for the Raiders is August 20 when Tennis heads to Eastview.
Friday, Todd Field was busy with Football holding their practice in the morning and girls’ soccer having the field for the afternoon. The commonality between them? Both coaches being excited to be back on the field with the student athletes.
“It’s great to be back,” said Head Football Coach Dana Strain. “I say this every year, but this is a great group of kids and coaches and it’s just fun to be back out here with them.”
Head Girls Soccer Coach Paul Armstrong echoed that sentiment and added, “the technique level has just continued to grow. Every single year I've been here. This is my fourth year, the girls know the expectations and the standards, and they've taken them and risen with them. So that's been awesome.”
Of course, both coaches also joked about picking the hottest practice of the season for pictures and just hanging out with the teams, and it was hot. Coach Armstrong even laughed at his own statement to the girls at the start of practice.
“OK,” he yelled as he gave directions for a drill. “With it being hot out, after you finish that, we’re going to be smart and take a two-minute water break.”
The realization of the ‘smart’ part of that dawned on him as the interview started. Of course, they are smart all the time, but it was fun to see the human side of the coaches too. That is a big piece that fans need to see more often and more importantly, remember. These coaches are genuinely good people, and they care about the well-being of their student athletes, both on and off the field.
Sure, they have times where they get after a kid for doing something wrong and at times, it may not come across as nice. But, having been on the sidelines and at practices, as soon as they have a chance to pull that kid aside and coach them up, they do. Sometimes it is the whole team that makes a mistake and then they all get coached up. That is what good coaches do.
Coach Strain has been at the helm of the football team for a long time. He has been there, done that, and seeing him on the field coaching these young men is a treat. One minute he barks out directions, the next he is quietly observing and then all of a sudden, he is joking around with a kid or checking on another.
Coach Armstrong is at the opposite end of the time spectrum as he enters his fourth season as the girls’ soccer head coach, but the approach is the same, stern when needed, always caring and having a good time with the athletes and setting clear expectations and goals.
“They know the expectations, and they are doing it themselves, versus me asking them and reminding them,” he said. “They're holding each other accountable. They have a different mindset going into games. Every game is winnable for this group, and they know that, and I think that's the huge difference between year one and year four. We're going to play some big dogs this year in Minnetonka and Rosemount, and we're looking to compete, not just be there, right?”
Looking ahead at the schedule until the end of August, varsity games only, no scrimmages.
Aug. 20 Tennis at Eastview 4:30 p.m.
Aug. 21 Girls Soccer 5:00 p.m. and Boys Soccer 7:00 p.m. at Eastview, Swimming at Simley – Conference Relays at 6:00 p.m.
Aug. 22 Tennis Invite at Hastings 8:30 a.m.
Aug. 23 Boys Soccer 11:00 a.m. and Girls Soccer 1:00 p.m. hosting Bloomington Jefferson
Aug. 25 Tennis Quad at Roseville 11:00 a.m.
Aug. 27 Tennis at Rochester Century 4:00 p.m., Volleyball at Simley 6:30 p.m., Boys Soccer hosting Irondale 7:45 p.m.
Aug. 28 Cross Country at Cottage Grove Middle School 5:00 p.m. boys, 5:45 p.m. girls. Swimming hosts Hill-Murray at 6:00 p.m. Football hosts New Prague 6:30 p.m.
Aug. 29 Girls Soccer hosts Farmington at 3:00 p.m.
The excitement for the 2025-26 school sports year is just beginning and The Journal is ready to bring you stories and photos from as many of those sports as possible thanks to a wonderful village of people behind the scenes. Folks like Dick Cragg, Sarah Wasvick, Denny Beck, the student managers, our varsity coaches, Trent Hanson and of course this awesome Raider family. Without that support, covering Raider sports would be far more difficult, so we would like to extend that appreciation early and often. Good luck and skill to all of our teams, and…
…Raiders on three…
ONE…TWO…THREE… RAIDERS!