TJ girl soccer players kick it year-round.
Anna Becker
One team, one coach, six schools and 18 girls are brought together by their similar interests and passions. For these girls, it was their passion for soccer that was the catalyst that brought them all together and molded and created a charismatic and diverse team.
One way athletes are able to really excel at a sport is to join a club team, which are offered during the off-season of that sport, ultimately allowing the athlete to play that sport year-round. Some of the most popular club soccer teams in Colorado are Rush, Storm, Fusion and Real. Including travel fees, these teams cost between $1,500 and $5,000 per season, depending on which level of team an athlete plays on, starting with challenge two and one, classic, premiere two and one all the way up to elite three, two, and one. There are also different age groups that divide the teams.
The girls play for a U17 Colorado Clash team called the Titans. Clash is one of the newest and most affordable clubs to join, costing about $500 to play for a Clash team, not including travel fees. The clash teams are always standing out against a green field when sporting their orange and white uniforms.
TJ’s own varsity soccer player Abby Montgomery is one of five girls from TJ who is on the clash team. “It doesn’t matter what schools we come from or how different we are, we are a team, and we work hard and have fun together,” Montgomery said.
The girls opted to play soccer in the fall to prepare them for the spring season and to craft them into better players. “The point of playing for a club team is so that you can improve your skills as an individual. Our coach does a really great job on spending time working on the things that we want to improve,” said Karina Martinez, a TJ junior varsity soccer player.
TJ Junior Varsity Soccer Coach Jon Poole believes that club sports are a good opportunity for the girls to improve and build confidence; he hopes that all of them will play on the TJ Varsity team this spring. “Club is a great way to learn from each other and expand your experience for that sport. It has been proven that you must practice something for 1,000 hours before you will master it; they are on their way to mastering soccer,” Poole said.
The TJ girls’ season starts in the spring on February 22, 2010. In preparation for the season there will be conditioning during the winter held at TJ, and other opportunities will include playing for an indoor team at TJ, which plays November through February. Any questions about girls’ soccer can be answered by Jon Poole, who can be found in room 231.
