By Tom Nader

Publisher and Editor

The Rootstown boys soccer team set a simple and clear philosophy for the 2025 season: Always work hard no matter what.

It is not a new theory.

In fact, it is a belief that all teams, regardless of sport, season or age group, desire to live within.

For it to be successful, though, teams need a core set of leaders to keep the message consistent from the start of the preseason until the final whistle of the postseason.

Players like Ben Smith.

The Rovers’ senior center back has been a trusted leader and responsible voice on and off the field.

“He is a leader.  As one of our captains, he demands the best out of the team on the field as he coordinates the back four and the half-backs,” Rootstown head coach Charlie Voth said. “He is verbal on the field. He teaches the underclassmen through his actions on and off the field. And he talks them through a tough time at practice telling them what they need to do.”

The results have followed.

Rootstown is currently the proud owners of an 11-3-1 overall record and the team is also 4-1-0 in league play during its first season as members of the Chagrin Valley Conference’s Valley Division.

After starting the season 2-2 — including wins over LaBrae and Newton Falls followed by losses to Chagrin Falls and Fairview — the Rovers ran off seven consecutive wins and nine in 11 games.

The last regular-season game of the season will be on Thursday for Rootstown, hosting United at Robert C. Dunn Field.

The team’s first tournament game is scheduled for Oct. 18 against the winner of No. 35 seed Jackson-Milton and No. 4 seed Columbia.

Those games will feature much of the same, with Smith’s never-stop hard work guiding a team that is filled with talented players.

“When you are working hard, it is what will win you a lot of games,” Smith said. “It takes determination and effort. You need all of the skill, too, but sometimes you play teams that also have good foot skills and they also have good players, so you can set yourself apart from them by outworking them. It has to be part of the DNA of every player we have.”

For the Rovers, it is all supported by a coaching staff, with head coach Charlie Voth and assistants Aaron Miracle and Michael Farkash, who holds everything competitively accountable.

“They motivate me to be better,” Smith said. “I love playing for Coach Charlie. He brings great energy to every practice and to every game. He pushes us hard and teaches us so much.”

Smith, though, also praised his teammates for helping push him to play at new levels.

Teammates like Alex Pastor, Zach Pastor, Dylan Boland, Bryson Scarlett and Caleb Fillmore, among others.

“It is great to play with them. It is a lot of fun,” Smith said. “They push me to be better not only because they play with a lot of skill, but they have a great mentality at practices and in games.”

Smith describes his play as a center back as scrappy and aggressive, but focused on gaining possession to build transition opportunities from the back. He works alongside Fillmore, who is the Rovers’ other center back, and the duo have formed a synergy on the field together.

“Ben is physically strong, he has great speed and a high soccer IQ,” Voth said. “He just gets it. He understands formations and sees the full field. He has all the traits the game of soccer demands.”

Starting with demands that are simple and clear: Always work hard no matter what.