Preseason Shivers 

As the mornings begin to cool down and the evenings come earlier, the women’s soccer season is upon Phoenix Country Day School. 

This year, tryouts took place from Nov. 4-5, slightly later in the year than usual. Due to the dramatic monsoon season Arizona experienced earlier this fall, the soccer fields were demolished. Matthew Hull, Assistant Athletic Director, mentions, “We’ve had a lot of storms in the past, but we did get a lot of debris and a lot of mud this time. So it delayed getting the fields back into a place where we could overseed…but we are used to those fields flooding.” Due to the drenched soccer fields, soccer tryouts were held on the baseball field. 

For the team’s seniors, walking up to the baseball field on the first day of tryouts felt very nostalgic, given that in their freshman year, soccer tryouts were also held at the baseball fields.

Tryouts were led by Coach Gabriel Penaloza, known to the team as Coach P. This is Penaloza’s second year of coaching the women’s soccer team. He is also a substitute teacher for Phoenix Country Day School. Penaloza says, “The soccer community here feels very young. Last year, we changed some things, or we planted some things that are better, but we’ll see what the change looks like. I think it’s too early to tell.”

Penaloza added that it is important that the culture of the women’s soccer team is set by the upperclassmen leaders, rather than just the coach. Penaloza says the culture of the team is set “in practice, on the field, [and] outside of practice with your communications.” He continues, “There are leaders who come out naturally, and they have a bigger voice. And even this year, it’s interesting that we have some more introverted leaders, which I think is nice to see as well. People can see the diversity of leadership.”

Senior  Tiera Williams states, “My goal is to leave a positive impact that lasts even after I graduate.” This goal can resonate with all of the senior leaders this year, who want to leave the soccer team with a good understanding of how to work and support one another throughout the entire season, not just on the field. The seniors are working towards implementing team bonding activities this year to bring the team closer together and get to know one another.

The Meaning of Soccer

Soccer can mean different things to many people. Williams shares, “Soccer isn’t my whole life, and that’s okay. It has been a meaningful part of my high school experience and has taught me valuable lessons.” 

For some athletes, their sport is everything. It is what they spend the majority of their time doing, putting in one hundred percent of their effort. Their dedication and resilience are evident in senior Rachel Burns. Burns says soccer is “a smile when I have had a rough day” and that she loves “being able to unplug and just knock around the ball with [her] teammates while trying to achieve our goals.” Senior Rainey Hackett expresses a similar thought, saying, “Soccer, to me, is a place and a passion where I feel I can challenge myself and push myself to be the absolute best version. It is a form of escapism, and it’s also a game that I genuinely enjoy and have fun playing.” 

For many on the team, soccer is not just an individual pursuit. Senior Talia Pruitt puts it perfectly when she says, “Soccer is not only a sport to me, but a community. It’s a group that supports one another with everything they have to give, and it is always reciprocated.”

According to Penaloza, soccer can become very competitive and even corrupt at the highest level, but its beauty lies in being “a rectangle with two goals and a ball.” The accessibility and timelessness of soccer have led it to become one of the most popular sports in the world.

Cherished Memories 

Rainey Hackett says her favorite memory was “freshman year when we did a winter break tournament.” She adds, “It may have been one of the most chaotic, fun, hilarious experiences in high school, and in that moment I knew for sure that I would have a community on this team.” Clearly,  the community on the team means a lot to its players. The team may not have the biggest fan section on the bleachers, but it does on the field itself. There will always be stressful moments during a game, or even a disappointing loss, but regardless of the outcome, at the end of each match, players all congratulate each other on how well they played. They are each other’s biggest supporters, and that means a lot.

A core memory for many athletes on PCDS teams is the bus rides. Bus rides to a game can be intimidating and serious, but the bus rides home are entirely different. Regardless of win or loss, the women’s soccer team always celebrates each other’s hard work and has fun jamming out to some music. Talia confirms this, saying, “Every away game, we bring a big speaker and play pump-up music or sit and talk, and I always find myself laughing and talking with people whom I may not talk to normally at school.” Bus rides to and from games are a fantastic way to bond with the team. 

When I look back at all the memories from the soccer team, I can’t say one exactly sticks out. I love all my memories just the same. Each bus ride back from a challenging match, every practice where I probably tripped at least five times, or each time I felt confused when our coach gave us instructions—I’m going to miss it all. I’m going to miss the endless laughter and even the endless smacks in the face by the soccer ball. Being a part of the women’s soccer team has taught me that I don’t have to be absolutely perfect at something as long as I put effort into what I am doing. You can’t impress everyone because everyone has different expectations. There is truly so much enjoyment that one can get out of soccer. Looking ahead to the season, the women’s soccer team is in a great position to perform well, not only because of the skillset of each player, but also because of the united culture that is being cultivated by its leaders.