by Victoria Ramirez| staff writer
The soccer teams are ready to get up and play. Kicking off the season, the girls headed into their first tournament, Jan 13 while the boys were already wrapping up their second tournament.
“We are all very excited for our this season, and just ready to show what we have in store and how hard we have been working towards getting ready for the season,” senior Talin Rizo said.
Since losing last year in the second round of playoffs, the girls have been preparing to come back better this season.
“We have really been practicing and getting ready for this season ever since we ended last season and for about two months now we have been figuring out what works and what doesn’t and are more ready than ever to give it all we got,” Rizo said.
With getting the girls back into the sport and gaining seven seniors, the upperclassmen feel a certain responsibility to be role models for the younger girls.
“This year we have seven seniors and I think all of the underclassmen look up to us, to show them the responsibility and be team role models for them. Throughout the years we learned a lot from previous seniors and now this year I believe we can show the underclassmen all that we have come to learn, on and off the field,” senior Megan Copeland said.
Going into the first tournament the girls were really excited to show the skills they have been building as a team.
“We are really excited for our first game because we think this team has so much potential. We have been preparing ever since off season last year,” Copeland said.
With the girls coming up short in the first tournament this past weekend, the boys came up 3-0 in their second tournament, and are aiming to reclaim their title as district champions.
“This season we have been practicing everyday and really focusing on getting back into it and now getting a fire lit under our butts as districts come about,” senior Ricky Nicolai said.
Having 4 seniors on the team this year compared to 17 last year, the boys have a lot to work on to get back to where they were.
“This year we only have four seniors, therefore we have a lot of underclassmen and it kind of builds relationships that seniors are kind of role models within it. So in a way as seniors we have that standard of letting them know that time goes by quick, so you really have to give it 110% whenever you have a chance,” Nicolai said.
Head varsity boys soccer coach Michael Barranco says teams chemistry is one of the most critical aspects for a team’s success and is more important that a team playing as individuals.
“I think team chemistry is one of the most important aspects of a team’s success because a team that plays for eachother are going to play harder and be more successful than a team that play as individuals. Our chemistry on the team is good, we have a lot of young kids and some of them have grown up playing together, and a lot of them played together last year on the junior varsity team and they have integrated well with our varsity players. Our chemistry is pretty good,” Barranco said.
As excited as the boys are to get back on the field, Barranco is looking down the road and planning for the boys to do the best they can this season, while competing against other skilled schools.
“We want to do as best as we can in districts. We’re in a very competitive district with some very good schools, and our goal is to win every game and become district champs. We want to play as far as we can and as best as we can in playoffs. That is down the road, but those are our goals,” Barranco said.
