MOULTRIE — Colquitt County girls soccer coach Jimbo Jarvis gestured toward the players practicing in front of him on Thursday at Packer Park and said, “That’s all of them. Varsity and JV.”

The count was 24 players.

The varsity will carry 15 players, which means there are just four substitutes. There are only two seniors – Lunden Connell and Lindy Sanderson – and the starting goal keeper will be freshman Jordan Boyd. Of those 15, five are freshmen. Five are sophomores.

The junior varsity team, which will be coached by Andy Chapura, will carry 14 players. Five players are included on both the varsity and junior varsity rosters.

But the low numbers and necessity of counting on so many underclassmen does not bother Jarvis, who has been coaching the Lady Packers since their first season in 1999.

“I’m looking forward to it,” Jarvis says of the 2008 season, which will begin on Saturday with an 11 a.m. scrimmage against Thomas County Central at Remington Park in Thomasville.

Jarvis concedes that the pre-Region 1-AAAAA part of the schedule, which will begin with a 6 p.m. home match against Thomasville on Feb. 12, will be “interesting.”

One phase of the game that Jarvis is looking forward to seeing is his team’s offense. Alba Hernandez, who has scored 51 goals for the Lady Packers the last two seasons, Abbey Taylor and Carly Banks figure to make the Lady Packers attack a formidable one.

“We’re going to have to score a bunch of goals,” Jarvis said. “We may give up some goals early until we get to where we want to be by region.

“Our defense is showing some good signs, but we’ve got a lot of work to do. There is just a lot of youth and inexperience there.”

Although sophomore Anna Hall returns to play sweeper, the Lady Packers are rebuilding their defense, starting with Boyd in the nets.

Jarvis said Boyd could develop into an All-Region player.

“We took her to camp and liked what we saw,” Jarvis said. “She’s tall, quick, got good reflexes and she’s very coachable.”

Also playing back for the varsity Lady Packers will be freshman Avery Castellow, freshman Lindsey Causey, sophomore Suzi Hernandez and freshman Morgan Hayes.

Connell and Sanderson will lend their experience to the midfield. Connell is moving out from the goal, where she played last year. Jarvis said he also is counting on freshman Lacey Webb at an outside mid position.

The varsity roster include Carly Banks, Laura Hill Bannister, Jordan Boyd, Avery Castellow, Lindsey Causey, Lunden Connell, Anna Hall, Alba Hernandez, Suzi Hernandez, Margarita Moreno, Lindy Sanderson, Abbey Taylor, Hannah Vereen, Lacey Webb and Morgan Hayes.

The JV players are Hannah Adair, Karlie Brown, Rocio Ceniceros, Jessie Hester, Tiffany King, Maria Medina, Kayla McCollum Karla Duque and Briseida Hernandez.

Bannister, Boyd, Castellow, Causey and Vereen will play on both squads.

The Lady Packers,who were 8-8-1 last year, lost nine players from the 2007 team: Anna DeMott, Katie Roberts, Alex Smith, Kristin Hall, Sarah Tyndall, Jessie Vick, Brianna Campbell, Morgan Jones and Jessie Williams

Jarvis said Colquitt County won’t be the only team in the region with a lower-than-normal number of players. Lowndes is expected to have just 17 varsity and junior varsity players. And the Vikettes will be without their top two players from 2007 — Amber Elam, who graduated, and Paloma Perez, who moved.

Tift County lost eight players from last year, including the outstanding Maggie Crowley.

Joining Jarvis on the sidelines this year as an assistant coach will be one of his former players: Jodi Beth Hammock Stuckey.

“It makes me feel old,” Jarvis said. “But it’s great to have her back. She was a bulldog when she played here.”

A preview of the Colquitt County boys soccer teams will appear in the Saturday edition.