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 Coral Springs Charter makes slow progress
Coach Howard Furman has the Panthers more focused and disciplined, but
they're in sk,2 a tough district with American sk,0 Heritage and Pine Crest.
 When
Howard Furman took control of the Coral Springs Charter boys' team four
years ago, he had plenty of work to do.
The team was undisciplined, pulling in red cards left and right under a
different coach. The players were aloof and uncommitted and went straight
from a middle school team to a losing varsity program with no room for slow
growth.
``It was pretty much a joke,'' Panthers senior forward Josh Doerr said.
``No one took it serious.''
Things have been slow to change since Furman took over -- the Panthers
have not won a district game and scored just two goals in their one-win
2007-08 campaign -- but this is the year Charter is expecting the changes to
start paying off.
``We were having trouble finding the right person to lead the program,''
athletic director Jerry Albert said. ``Since [Furman came] in, he cleaned it
up.''
Furman is just the sort of professional disciplinarian Charter needed
with the soccer pedigree to back it up. He played soccer all his life,
eventually becoming the midfielder for Hamilton College in upstate New York
before deciding his future was brighter as a lawyer. When he moved to
Florida, he kept playing soccer and says he learned more from watching
European and South American players.
Add his soccer-rich background to his no-nonsense attitude as a lawyer,
and the groundwork for the future was set.
The change in attitude started right away. Furman weeded out players who
didn't want to be there, redefined team goals and changed practices from
free-for-all chaos to organized sessions.
Furman also reprioritized academics, going so far as to walk into
classrooms and sit next to players who needed the reminder about what
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