It has been a wild season for the soccer team. So many things have happened in the past few months, including adjusting to a new system in Coach Llontop’s first season. Along the way memories were created, friendships bloomed–everyone benefited from the sport. 

The senior year is considered to be the most carefree year of high school, where you forget about your responsibilities and just live life. Others say it’s the most stressful–the year where you really have to focus and make plans for college. It might be even a time to try something new. For Addison Harris, it was. Harris, the goalkeeper of the Varsity team, told me that soccer was new to him. “It was the first time playing soccer in my life, though,” he says. “So it was a lot of new stuff, but it was fun learning and fun competing.” I asked him more about this–and he told me that in the very first scrimmage he had hurt his wrist.

“It wasn’t even an actual game,” he laughs as he thinks about the memory. One of the other boys kicked his wrist as he dove to keep the ball from going into the net. 

Soccer, for these boys, has given them so many opportunities. Relationships between the teammates have grown tremendously. Playing against one of their biggest rivals, Bowling Green, and beating them was one of their biggest accomplishments. Bowling Green has always been Greenwood’s “official” rival team. In every sport, we’ve concentrated on on beating them–because they’re considered to be the “best” in every sport. So winning a soccer game against them just gave the boys a more uplifting sense of pride, a warm feeling.

Although BG was one of the most satisfying wins, the last game against Warren Central was the biggest.  Moses Lian, one of the seniors, said “We didn’t think we were going to win, but we fought hard.” Harris said that was the game he played the best in–and the rest of his teammates did, too.

“It was like I couldn’t miss the ball in that game,” he recalls as he thinks about it. “I don’t know, it was just everybody worked better together that day than all season.” The Varsity team won eight games, and so did JV.

In all, the soccer season really brought everyone closer. Moses notes on the entirety of the season that “It was pretty good, we had some hard times, but it was good overall.”  Alim Mirzayev, another teammate, said that “Soccer…had helped me build relationships.”  Cesar Villegas, the left and right midfielder, told me this–”Never underestimate any team, always play 110 percent.” 

Lian’s parting advice to the Gators who will continue the rebuilding effort under Coach Llontop: “My advice would be to never think of yourself as the best player, ‘cause there’s always going to be someone better than you, so you just have to never give up and keep working hard.”