Years of commitment going toward a sport that they are so passionate about, coaches and players work together to get to their common goal. Standing on or off the field, the coaches inspire and guide the soccer players to be successful in every aspect.
Boys Soccer Coach Isai Velasquez didn’t always envision himself becoming a soccer coach.
“I played on the varsity soccer team for four years in high school,” Velasquez said. “Although I’ve always played soccer and have always loved the sport, I went to school to study business. When I felt like the business career wasn’t really my calling my first thought was soccer. I knew I had to become a soccer coach to pursue my passion.”
Velasquez’s life has been impacted not only by the sport of soccer but by the relationships that have been built.
“The thing I love most about coaching is that each relationship can be personalized to each of my players and I think that those bonds impact me the most,” Velasquez said. “I no longer just think about my success and myself, it’s more about passing that success onto my athletes. Before it was more as I wanted to win for myself but now it’s more of ‘ok how can I impact my athletes? How can I make them better? How can I get them to reach their goal?’”
One of the many soccer players that has built a wonderful relationship with Velasquez is Senior Chris Navarro who started loving the soccer field at the age of six.
“I learned to play soccer by watching my dad play,” Navarro said. “I would spend some time with my dad going to the park and I started to play with him. When I play soccer I think of making him proud because he was the one who opened the doors for me to go into soccer and I would want him to see what he has molded me into.”
Navarro’s key aspect to enjoying the sport to the fullest is loving his position.
“I play forward but sometimes I play right back,” Navarro said. “I love playing forward the most. The objective for a forward player is to score goals. I love having the feeling of accomplishment when I do score a point for our team.”
Navarro’s enthusiasm for soccer gives him ‘hope’ for the sport to stay in his future.
“After graduating it’s going to feel like there’s a hole in my daily routine because this is what I’ve been doing everyday for school,” Navarro said. “I wake up in the morning and go to soccer practice so it’s going to feel like a big difference waking up in the morning and not going to soccer practice but even then I aspire to keep practicing when high school is over because it’s something I enjoy doing and it lets me have my mind in a blank space.”
That same feeling of enthusiasm for soccer has been there for Junior Jacob Lara since his early childhood.
“I started playing soccer when I was about five years old,” Lara said. “I wanted to play soccer because I would see other kids playing and it really caught my interest. I shortly started to learn how to play soccer by joining a peewee soccer team.”
For Lara teamwork means more than helping each other out on the field.
“Teamwork plays a very big role because it’s not only just with soccer,” Lara said. “Teamwork comes with being on time to practice and making your teammates responsible for themselves and their actions. Working as a team gives good outcomes like winning the games, when we win as one I want to jump and celebrate with my teammates.”
With his senior year being close by, Lara has to think about how soccer will play a part in his future.
“My aim is to keep soccer in my life,” Lara said. “To start off, I hope I can continue being a part of this soccer team for my senior year too. I would like to be able to teach someone about soccer whether it’s to my younger relatives or to someone who needs the help.”
From a player who continues their high school experience to one who is almost at the end of the road is senior Giselle Cedillo.
“I learned to play soccer by watching my dad play,” Cedillo said. “My mom even has pictures that capture me just watching my dad play when I was younger. I started playing soccer when I was just six years old and now at seventeen years old it has impacted my life by teaching me so many life lessons and just teaching me how to be physically and mentally strong.”
Cedillo plays the field pouring her all into it like it could be her last game.
“When I play, I give it the best I can because I want to make my best friend proud, my mom,” Cedillo said. “My mom is my number one fan. She has never missed a high school or club soccer game. I would love to make her proud so she knows I see the effort she makes for me.”
Soccer has been a constant in Cedillos four years in high school.
“I feel as though it came and went by too quickly,” Cedillo said. “I feel sad knowing this is one of the last times I will be on this field with some of my closest friends which is such a bittersweet feeling. Although it’ll be my last year on this field, I know soccer is something I will continue to love, watch, and always enjoy.”
From years of experience Cedillo has helpful guidance of her own to give.
“Some of the advice I would give to incoming soccer players would be to keep going,” Cedillo said. “The sky is the limit and don’t let anyone stop you from achieving what you want to achieve. Don’t let people’s opinions or expectations determine how you are as a player.”
Mixed emotions are shared between the senior soccer players including Senior Aleecia Robles.
“My family has always played soccer and I thought I should play the sport too,” Robles said. “I started playing soccer at 8 years old with the help of my dad. I want to make my dad proud because he taught me the sport and I know he loves soccer and watching me have fun while playing on the field.”
Robles has a rollercoaster of emotions when she gets on the field.
“I feel free when I play on the field,” Robles said. “I feel like soccer puts a pause in the world and everything I worry about in the moment stops for the sport I love. It’s just me and the field.”
Robles’s last year is marked by a touching feeling of saying goodbye to an era of her life.
“Knowing this is my last year playing high school soccer is really sad,” Robles said. “The memories you make with the freshman-juniors and seeing every person grow not just as soccer players but as a person as well is one the best things to witness. Knowing that you may never see high school friends again makes it even more sad but knowing that they made a big impact in my life makes everything 10x better.”
Someone that also started young is Girls Soccer Coach Megan Coppedge who has known that soccer was meant to be her passion ever since she can remember.
“I knew whatever career that I picked I wanted to have soccer involved in it,” Coppedge said. “I have played soccer ever since I was four. As I went on to college I knew I wanted to major in education so that I could teach students but also coach them in soccer.”
Coaching soccer has given Coppedge the opportunity to build meaningful relationships.
“The soccer players and I are able to connect through the game of soccer but for me it’s more than that,” Coppedge said. “I know that I have such an impact on their life apart from soccer. I try to tell my players ‘whenever you get knocked down you have to get back up and try again’ because that’s not only applicable to soccer but in life in general. That’s the most important thing, to shape the players into well rounded individuals.”
Coppedge has seen her senior players grow into the young adults they are now and continues to cheer her underclassmen on.
“I think that any of the underclassmen could be a leader,” Coppedge said. “It just takes one person to see a change or to make a change and even though they’re really young they still have value on the team. I haven’t been trying to think about this being the last year for my senior players until the season actually gets here. They have helped me so much throughout the last four years not only with building the program. I’m just excited to see where their life goes and I’m just glad I got the opportunity to coach them.”
