Cleats hit the field as the varsity girls’ soccer team crunches turf under their feet in what seems like freezing temperatures to begin practice for their preseason. Players pass the ball left and right as they go over drills for their upcoming game.

As the girls varsity soccer team begin to play games during their preseason Janet Gummerman, the head soccer coach, goes into detail about her hopes and goals for the team this season.

“This season I’m really looking forward to defeating all the teams in our district because our varsity is full of talented players,” Gummerman said. “I also hope for our team to do good enough this season so that we get that district title.”

A majority of the girls varsity team last year was composed of seniors who all graduated, now new players are stepping up from the junior varsity team and joining the varsity roster.

“It’s rewarding to finally be on varsity after playing on the freshman and junior varsity team the past two years,” junior Rheanna Reyes said.

For junior Hannah Erb she will be making a comeback on varsity after recovering from breaking her arm last season

“Last year I broke my arm really badly, which resulted in three surgeries and four months of recovery,” Erb said. “It was really challenging coming back this season since I was so out of shape and I missed practice a lot, but my teammates were really supportive of the whole situation.”

Since the soccer teams begin practice in the winter, freezing temperatures cause problems for the girls that have to practice almost everyday.

“The weather really impacts the game and practices because sometimes our practice gets canceled since the weather gets pretty bad,” senior Avery Schmidt said. “When it’s freezing out isn’t exactly everyone’s favorite, so we just have to really bundle up for some games and practices.”

The girls hoping to play for the school have to go through a difficult week of tryouts that require a lot of skill before the coaches announce the rosters for each team

“Being on varsity as a sophomore or junior is a big accomplishment,” Gummerman said. “During tryouts I’m always looking for the best girls, I look for their dedication, skill level, and if they have strong academics.”

Communication between players is crucial during a game, so for the seniors who have been playing together the past four years they are very successful on the field together

“Communication is so incredibly important and I think having a bond on and off the field really works in our favor,” Schmidt said. “We have team dinners and hang out outside of school, it’s nice playing on a team where you can call 20 of your teammates your closest friends.”

Since soccer takes up a majority of their time, the players struggle with keeping a balance between soccer, social life and school work.

“Balancing school, soccer and social life can be hard at times however a majority of my friends play soccer,” senior Madison Horner said. “So having the ability to spend so much time with my friends doing the thing I love is a nice balance.”

As their skill for the sport increases over the years, players continue to set goals for this upcoming season to better themselves as a player.

“This season my personal goals for the season are to hopefully make it far into the playoffs and end the season with a winning record,” Erb said.

On the girls team there are three captains, and each of them has to step up to their role and take leadership when guiding the team.

“In order to lead, the other captains and I must work together to motivate the other girls on and off the field to ensure a victory,” senior Madison Horner said. “Motivating the girls I play with is always important, because otherwise we wouldn’t have the impulse to try and win the game. Our goal as a team is to get the district title and in order to do that we need to work together and take each game by game so hopefully one day we’ll get there.”