The Women’s Club Soccer held its first tryouts of the spring season Tuesday night and is beginning to start up its spring semester schedule. With plenty of new players showing up, the team is excited for the upcoming tournaments.
Currently, the club consists of about six seniors and underclassmen. Though their teammates are young, many seasoned veterans are hopeful that their program will continue to grow strong.
“Anybody that is a NCSU student or staff is welcome to come tryout whether you are undergrad student, a grad student, or even a teacher,” Caitlin Gehris, the team’s captain, said. “Tryouts are also on Wednesday from 5-7 p.m. at the upper IM fields. Depending on the number of players that come out will determine if we have tryouts the following week too.”
Many players on the team have played soccer for a number of years, but they encourage all to join the team. Some of the women were once opponents in high school but play as teammates at State. All of these players have grown together as close friends and family.
“This past fall we went to Pensacola, Fla., for Regionals,” Morgan Smith, a junior in sports management, said. “Most of us drove down to the tournament in a 15-passenger van together. It was great to get a chance to hang out with everybody and to drive the 12 or 13 hours down. It was a lot of fun.”
During the fall season, the club posted numerous victories against other soccer clubs in the ACC. The team regularly faced in-state opponents Duke, Wake Forest, UNC and Clemson. But, what they consider to be their greatest victory thus far was a win in the fall over East Carolina University at the Virginia Tech Tournament.
“My favorite memory was scoring the winning goal in the last couple of minutes of the game to beat ECU,” Alexandra Leonard, a senior in Spanish, said. “Going to tournaments is definitely my favorite part of club soccer, because we get to leave town for the weekend, play tons of soccer and hang out with friends on the team.
The officers coordinate the selection process as well as all other aspects of the team. They all come together to schedule games and tournaments, as well as organize transportation to and from games. Most positions are given to seniors, but other players are allowed to sign up.
The club also focuses on doing other things outside of playing soccer as the team has already planned on volunteering at multiple events throughout the spring semester.
“We are going to volunteer for campus recreation’s annual Cornholepalloza and the NCIS Basketball Championship this Spring,” Caitlin Gehris, a junior in history, said. “All of the officers work together in completing these tasks. We have officer meetings frequently during the season to discuss everything that needs to be done.”
Though some may find it difficult to balance a life of soccer year-round and a college education, most of the players wouldn’t have it any other way. The team gets to travel to new places and meet interesting people. Like most other sports, they value their education above competitions at tournaments. At the end of the spring season, the six seniors will depart from the team to lead new lives.
“Originally, I thought that club soccer would keep me from doing other things,” Allison Mitchell, a senior in English, said. “I was mistaken; rather, it helped me experience things. The best thing that has come from soccer though is the friendships. This year especially our team has grown really close, so it will be bittersweet for me as a senior to leave.”