by DEREK NORTON
Intern Sports Reporter

The 2008 Appalachian State University women’s club soccer team, entered last weekend’s tournament at Clemson University with a strength many teams can only dream of.

“This is the first team I’ve ever been on with no cliques or fights,” newcomer Jennah S. Starr, one of the team’s seven freshmen, said. “Everyone here has been so inviting.”

It’s always easy to underestimate the value of team unity, especially when it doesn’t appear in a box score, but it’s the first thing junior assistant coach Thaissa T. Jones points out when addressing the team’s strengths.

“Our group dynamic is really good this year, which makes us more competitive,” Jones said. “This is the best group of soccer girls I’ve ever been around…we haven’t had any skirmishes even though we’re all really different.”

Ranging in age from 18 to 25 years old, the team consists of seven freshmen, five sophomores, five juniors and four seniors, making “different” a potential understatement.  However, it’s how they treat each other that brings them together.

“There’s no ‘freshmen, do this’ or ‘freshmen, do that,’” junior team president Alexandra “Lexie” E. Heileman said. “When something has to be done, everyone chips in, so it doesn’t seem like there’s much of an age gap.”

In addition to the Clemson Tournament, which featured schools from Florida, Alabama and Kentucky, the team has played two games thus far, defeating Elon University 5-1 and narrowly losing to Davidson College 1-0. 

The Clemson Tournament is one of potentially two tournaments ASU will play in this semester, depending in large part on gas prices and transportation. 

“We provide all of our own transportation, so issues do arise,” Ashley E. Mixon, the team’s treasurer, said.  “Our budget is very limited, but we try and play as often as we can.”

Other regular season games include the University of North Carolina, North Carolina State University, East Carolina University and Wake Forest University. 

Oftentimes, the team will play doubleheaders due to transportation issues. 

TrackBack URI for this entry

Comments (0)

Show/Hide comments