After earning multiple championship titles in the past, it is hard to say where the Santa Rosa Junior College men’s and women’s soccer teams will end up next.
Now that the women’s team won the Big 8 Conference title six consecutive years, Head Coach Tracy Hamm has great confidence the 2013 team will do the same.
The team already faced good fortune in a tournament which took place in Ventura on the weekend of Aug. 31. There, the team played against East Los Angeles College and Santa Barbara College, winning by scores of 4-0 and 3-1.
“It was a really good way to start off the season,” Hamm said.
Coach Hamm believes the wins were not only achieved based off of the players’ speed and focused work ethics, but also because both the active and bench players fed off each others energies.
“We played as a solid team,” she said.
To get the most out of this season, the women’s soccer team plans to focus on tactical awareness and effective teamwork. Instead of putting all their attention on a few players, the coaches plan to concentrate on the team as a whole in order to get the best outcome in the upcoming games.
“We’ll do our best to represent Santa Rosa Junior College,” Hamm said.
Meanwhile, the men’s soccer team faces struggles as the players strive to compete with their predecessors.
“It’s really difficult to make any kind of predictions,” said head coach Martin Kinahan.
After earning the 2012 Big 8 Championship title, Kinahan hopes that this year’s team will be able to have the same experience. He says it is going to take a lot of work to get there, especially since there are few returning players among a team of brand new men unused to playing together.
The team already faced two losses after scrimmaging in Hawaii during the weekend of Aug. 31. On Friday, they played a tough game against Brigham Young University, where no one scored until BYU scored a goal at the end of the game, closing it out with a 1-0 score.
The high temperatures and intense humidity did not stop the SRJC Bear Cubs from playing two additional 30-minute halves, but definitely took its toll.
Aside from a short training session, the Bear Cubs had Saturday off, where they had the opportunity to go snorkeling and cliff jumping at Shark’s Cove. The team then went to Waimea Beach, where they had a fun beach soccer match with some of the local residents.
Following the day of relaxation and recreation, the team prepared for its scrimmage which took place Sunday against Hawaii Pacific University. The Bear Cubs ended up taking a loss of 3-0. Though they lost, Kinahan said the players were more focused than they were in the scrimmage against BYU.
In order to strengthen the team’s skills, Kinahan plans to keep up the levels of discipline, fitness and commitment.
“We have a lot to improve on,” Kinahan said.
The team will play its first home game Sept. 10.