Making it to playoffs consistently for the last twelve years in a row is an accomplishment only a handful of teams can say, but for the women’s soccer team at Pierce College, it is an achievement.
Although the team is from a junior college, that doesn’t mean they have to play like it.
“We take a different approach and work very hard,” said head coach Adolfo Perez. “We treat it like a four year, division one school. We work harder than most schools.”
Perez has been head coach of the team since 2001 and has been the only soccer coach since the inception of the program at Pierce. “When I got hired in 2001 there was no program,” Perez said. “I actually got hired in May which is recruiting season and as I like to say, we did not have a soccer ball, I mean we literally started from scratch. There was no soccer ball, no field, no nothing. We got our field halfway through our second year. It really was a rough time.”
Ever since Perez took over, the team has been dominating.
“That first year we won 15 games,” Perez said. ” We went 15 and 4 and then we made the playoffs. And it’s tough because in a junior college, every year is a different team. Everybody thinks it’s every two years but it’s actually every year. For instance, we only have three players from last year’s team come back this year. We almost always have 9 or 10 back, but it’s one of those things that just kind of happened this year. It’s one reason or another that they can’t come back to play.”
Coaching a team isn’t for everybody, but for Perez it is more than just a job.
“He is a very good tactician when it comes to the soccer strategies in putting his girls in the right spot to win a ball game,” said Athletic Director of Pierce College Bob Lofrano. “His record has been winning 80 percent of his matches. He lives and breathes soccer and it shows in the competitiveness of his teams.”
When players first come onto the team, it is startling to see the level of dedication Perez demands from his players.
“We took a little while to adapt to his way of teaching but now that we have gotten used to him,” said sophomore player Paula Colicci. “We have been much more successful and receptive to his comments.”
The next home game for the lady Brahmas is Friday, Oct. 11 against Ventura at 4 p.m..