WRITTEN BY JADEN FISKE
Interviews and edits by Dana Barbee With the soccer season coming to an end, we’ve interviewed a few seniors from the girls soccer team to get some of their thoughts on the 2022-2023 season. Two of the senior captains, Samantha Chiapa and Jessica Peralta, talked a lot about the season. Samantha stated that she has been playing soccer for about 4 years. She said, “It’s always been my desire to play soccer since I had an older cousin who did and was really good,”, while Jessica stated that she started playing soccer in 11th grade. She says, “I’ve played with my family before, since a lot of my family plays soccer and some went professional.” She also mentioned that her “friends encouraged [her] to try out and [she’s] glad they did because [she] met a lot of great people and found something [she] love[s].” Melina Farabolini, another senior on the soccer team wrote back that she hadn’t been playing soccer for very “long, this is [her] first season ever playing.” She tried out as a senior, because she knew that if she graduated without having done so, she would regret it. When asked about the team's progress, Samantha believes that the team has progressed a lot from the beginning of the season to currently. She stated, “I feel like in the start it was nerves and not really knowing how to play together but everyone is much more confident and determined to win and I believe that if we keep this mindset we can win the whole league.” Jessica believes that they started slow the first game but slowly built up and are making a lot of progress. She typed, “We all make mistakes here and there but we are always there for each other and I just feel like we’ve been doing really well and I’m happy the way we are playing.” She also said, “There’s always room for improvement but we are getting there and I’m proud of how far we’ve come in such little time.” Melina added that the team has improved and that it’s nice to see how good everyone has improved both as a team and individually. All three of them had predictions for the next few games, this question was asked prior to the matches. Samantha’s predictions for the games are hopeful, “...hopefully we win. We’re up against some really good teams but I think if we keep playing how we’ve been we’ll be able to persevere through the challenges”. Jessica’s answers don’t differ as she states that though she cannot make any (predictions) at all, she hopes to win. Melina predicted that they’re going to play good because it’s their (the seniors) last high school season. The fourth question they were asked was if their jerseys had any symbolism or hidden meaning to them. Samantha responded with, “Yes there is symbolism to my Jersey number. 13 has been my lucky number since I was a kid because my favorite player growing up was Alex Morgan”. She also said that on other teams she’s played in with the same number, she’s done well. And that those teams were a significant part of her life. She also says “It was also that one of my good friends and last seasons’ captain wore it and it’s an honor to feel like I filled her shoes.”. Jessica responded that she wears #2 because one of the other captains last year wore it, and they were extremely close. She was extremely happy to be representing her in this way. Melina’s jersey has a significance to her as well. The number 7 has been her lucky number for a long time. Lastly, they were asked if they had any advice to give to other VAAS or aspiring athletes. Samantha responded, “A piece of advice I’d like to share is to not give up and to always be determined. I know it’s easier said than done but if we play like we want to win, we will win and we can’t let anything discourage us until the whistle blows”. Jessica’s bit of advice was “Don’t doubt yourself and never give up.” She says “that even if you fail, get back up and keep going. Because giving up gets you nowhere.” Melina’s advice for other athletes was “Keep working hard, stay consistent and motivated! Because, before you know it, it’s all gone in a flash”. Overall, all the seniors that we interviewed had positive things to say about the 2022-23 soccer season. 11/14/22 VAAS vs Sotomayor
Game Start - 3:00 pm Loss, 1 - 2 11/16/22 VAAS @ Hoover Game Start - 3:30 pm Loss, 0 - 4 11/18/22 VAAS vs Reseda Game Start - 3:00 pm Loss, 0 - 5 11/30/22 VAAS @ Sun Valley Game Start - 3:00 pm Loss, 1 - 5 12/5/22 VAAS @ Vaughn Game Start - 2:30 pm Loss, 1 - 6 12/8/22 VAAS @ SOCES Game Start - 2:30 pm Loss, 1 - 2 12/12/22 VAAS vs East Valley Game Start - 2:30 pm Win, 4 - 1 12/14/22 VAAS @ Northridge Game Start - 2:30 pm Loss, 0 - 6 12/15/22 VAAS @ Westlake Game Start - 7:00 pm Loss, 0 - 6 1/4/23 VAAS vs Westchester (Tournament) Game Start - 10:30 pm Win, 6 - 0 1/18/23 VAAS vs Westchester (Tournament) Game Start - 10:30 pm Win, 6 - 0 1/6/23 VAAS vs North Valley Military Institute (Tournament) Game Start - 10:30 am Tie, 0 - 0 1/6/23 VAAS vs Academia Avance (Tournament) Game Start - 1:30 pm Win, 1 - 0 1/12/23 VAAS vs Fulton Game Start - 2:30 pm Loss, 5 - 0 1/19/22 VAAS vs Vaughn Game Start - 2:30 pm Loss, 3 - 1 1/23/23 VAAS vs SOCES Game Start - 2:30 pm Loss, 1 - 0 1/26/23 VAAS @ East Valley Game Start - 3:00 pm Tie, 0 - 0 1/30/23 VAAS vs Northridge Game Start - 2:30 pm Loss, 5 - 0 2/2/23 VAAS @ Fulton Game Start - 2:30 pm Loss, 7 - 2 2/15/23 VAAS @ Roybal Game Start - 3:00 pm Loss, 4 - 0 Click "Read More" at the bottom right of this post to view the 2022-2023 Varsity Girls Soccer schedule and scores.
Written By: Leonardo Blacutt Marcelo Casasola (Senior, FORW/MF, #12)
“What made me join soccer was all my friends encouraging me and me starting to obtain passion for the sport again. My favorite position is midfield. I like it because I get to touch the ball the most and control what happens in the play. I like to be the one who decides where the ball goes and how fast the play should be executed. The position I play is midfield or forward. I have been playing since I was 7 years old, so now for 10 years. The most memorable moment I have so far in this soccer season is the very first scrimmage I played at practice. I touched the ball so much and I made so many great passes and plays and I noticed that I can see my teammates more and when I get the ball I feel more calm and collected. It makes me excited for this upcoming season. That scrimmage is what made me fall in love with soccer again. It made me not want to quit and I'll do everything to continue to relive those moments. The toughest part of being an athlete at this school is probably the time management. I really don't have any strength when it comes to coordination with my schedule with sports and homework so I usually turn in work late or just don't end up doing the work. I didn't end up planning on playing soccer in the future but now I might end up trying out for college soccer.” Alexis Araiza-Zepeda (Junior, FORW, #9, CAPTAIN) “I joined soccer because I love the sport, it has been my family sport forever. I am the first generation to have the chance to go pro and I wanna do that to make my family proud. Soccer helps me clear my mind when I am stressed, mad, or sad. The moment I get on the field my pain goes away. My favorite position has to be the right and left wing position because we can get lots of goals and because we can give passes to the forward to have the chance to score. Every position is important to the game, they all have their purpose. I play mostly in the right and left wing position. Although no matter what position, we have to know how to play all the other positions so we won't be lost during the game. I have been playing since i was a little kid even though I recently joined a club team. I have been playing with them for 1 and a half years. A memorable moment was when I saw the roster of the team and I saw that I was captain with my 2 friends that are like brothers to me. It's important to me because they brought me to the team and have been there for me like brothers and I'm glad I’m captain with them for the last year. The hardest thing for me is always being stressed out and getting no sleep to stay up doing homework. Of course I do, it has always been my dream to get up there. So far I'm doing well. All I have to do is be consistent and keep up and not get distracted by things that don't really matter. I know it's possible because I believe in myself and I know that if I keep working hard it will pay off sooner or later.” Marco Farabolini (Sophomore, MF/FORW, #15) “I joined soccer because I want to play with my friends and get better at soccer. My favorite position is midfield because you get to play everything, defend, attack and pass. My position in soccer is midfield. I have been playing my whole life. My dad would play soccer with me, even when I was a baby. So far, a memorable moment is getting our new jerseys after practice. This was fun because we all fought for numbers, but we were happy in the end. The toughest part of being an athlete is being tired and coming home after practice to do homework. But it’s still something I can handle. I like to play soccer and volleyball and I would like to play one of them in college.” Brayan Gonzalez Contreras (Junior, SWEP, #5) “Since I was small I have been in love with the sport, growing up I always wanted to play. My favorite position is center back because just the art of defending which to me is the most satisfying thing, like how (world class defenders) Maldini or Sergio Ramos or Carles Puyol used to play. I play center back and I have been playing for 9 years. My most memorable moment was scoring a late goal to tie up the game. Sustaining grades while also making sure you turn in your homework and not be sleepy. Personally, I do it’s all part of my dream and goal of mine.” Miguel Pozos (Senior, MF, #10, CAPTAIN) “I’ve been playing since I was little and my family’s also been playing since they were young. I like center mid because I feel involved in every play and I feel like I have more control over the game in that position. My position is center mid. I’ve been playing for 11 years. The most memorable part of the season right now was messing around with my friends at practice. The most difficult part of being an athlete is being able to manage sports, social life and school. I plan on playing in the future only casually.” Jacob Rueda (Senior, FORW/MF, #11, CAPTAIN) “I joined soccer because of my friends. My favorite position is Striker or “Running of the line” as they would say. I play Striker or midfielder. I’ve been playing for 12 years now. My most memorable moment so far are the Practices. The most difficult part of being an athlete is that there are some kids that don’t take it seriously. I don’t plan on playing soccer after high school.” |
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