Comet's Soccer Team
In the midst of school activities, we encounter ourselves with one of our favorite sports. Soccer, a sport with a great fan club in school, starts its league Wednesday the 16th of September. Commonwealth’s Junior Varsity coach, “Juanra” Fernández, was able to grant us a few words regarding the upcoming season. He has been a soccer coach for eight years and is working hand in hand with Varsity coach Marcos Vergara.
Coach Fernández began explaining how this year has been a change in generations since nine of his eleven starters from last year’s JV team moved up to Varsity, leaving him with a lot of recruiting to do and with a big decision in his hands. “We have some seventh graders with great skills and are passionate about the sport”, Juanra continued “but they have the body of a twelve-year-old. Imagine them playing against a fourteen-year-old… there will be a great difference and that is why I have to choose wisely.”
Especially with the younger boys, the best thing to do to reinforce the team is to play with movement. If one player stays with the ball, it is more likely that the other team will steal the ball. However, when there is a constant passing of the ball, we trick the opponent and we solidify the technique of the newer players.
It is good to have a technique during the matches, but what makes a good player reach the higher leagues?
A great example of this is our ex-alumni Ricardo Dip, Class of 2015, who earned three-fourths of a full scholarship to The Pennsylvania State University. “The first thing is commitment. You can be a good player if you started in seventh or eighth grade, but you most probably will not reach the higher leagues. Riki, on the other hand, started playing soccer when he was seven or eight years old. He has lived with soccer all his life, and that is what got him to get that scholarship.” Coach Fernández added that you need to have good peers around you and good practices. It is not the same to have practices where some of the players are behind in skills, while you are trying to push the team forward. Ricky had an amazing team next to him along the way, and many of his teammates were also his best friends, which is something that coaches try to accomplish when they are younger in order to obtain better results.
Looking towards this new season, Coach Fernández has some things to say about the opposing teams. “I think this season will be much alike to the last season. We usually have very competitive games against Wesleyan, Baldwin or Tasis, which was last season’s champion [Tasis]. All three teams still have their players from last year, so it is definitely going to be a rocky road.”
Commonwealth’s JV soccer team debuted Wednesday, September 16th against Rosabell School. With a great victory for the Comets, both the coach and the school are waiting for a great season!
