Donna Rodriguez / Roundup
Like soldiers waiting to march they all stood beside each other. They stand on the white line facing forward to the green empty field waiting for the command.
Ready! Go!
They all run forwards stepping on the white line of one side of the field to return to the line of the other. They get back into position to do it all over again.
Once again Jose Mejia, the assistant coach, gives the command, “Ready! Go!”, as he sits on the bench putting hands full of sunflower seeds into his mouth and spitting them back out onto the grass.
This is the normal routine for the girls’ soccer team at Pierce College.
Their training is every Tuesday and Thursday from 3 to 5 p.m. during the spring season.
The Women’s Soccer program is going onto to their 10th year and will be competing in the Western State Conference (WSC) championship in Fall 2010. So far they have won seven WSC championships in nine years.
Since Pierce College’s soccer team has won seven championships schools like Mission College and Glendale College feel like “playing Pierce is the biggest game of their life,” said Adolfo Perez, the head coach, “so we need to step up because even the worst team can beat us.”
In the 2009 WSC championship there were many awards given out to the girls, but the award that is a big accomplishment was given to Stephanie Cubias, the team’s midfielder, according to Perez.
Cubias won the Western State Conference Player of the Year award.
Cubias was in the Pierce College Library searching online for a picture of the girls’ soccer team when she stumbled onto her name and read that she had won the WSC Player of the Year.
“Soccer is my main, main priority,” said Cubias. “I have to be mentally strong as well as physically.”
Each coach from the WSC nominates one girl and they all vote on the winner. There are seven coaches and they need to have at least four votes to determine the winner according to Perez.
There are about 15 to 16 new players and one of those new players is Nora Perez, midfielder, according to Perez. She was recruited from Taft High School after having her scholarship from Cal State Fullerton put on hold because of an injury.
“I was cutting the guard and another girl tackled me,” said Nora. “I had to get surgery last year in June,” she said. She tore her anterior cruciate ligament (ACL).
It is tough on players like Nicole Jovel, the teams forward and midfielder, when they get injured and aren’t able to play. She hurt her medial collateral ligament (MCL) last season when she was slide tackled.
“I haven’t been able to recover because my mentality has been weak,” said Jovel. “As a player I do want to play and being here [referring to the training days] kills me,” she said.
It’s a good thing that the girls have someone to go to when they are in that situation. Ani Eishoei, captain of the soccer team, is there for the girls when they need someone to talk to.
“I am the go to person,” said Eishoei “they come to me to train and motivation.”
She is responsible for keeping everyone focused because focus is the biggest aspect according to Eishoei.
Besides being the captain of the team she is also the youngest so it was difficult to earn the respect of the rest. “When I did get their respect it was great,” said Eihsoei.
Their first game is scheduled for Aug. 27 against Cuyamaca College.
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