Boys’ varsity soccer team welcomes several new underclassmen
The boys’ soccer team runs on the field during practice.
August 1, 2013
The Tracy High Schools boys’ varsity soccer team is hoping to have a fantastic season. Boys’ Varsity Soccer coach Phillip Kalis plans on having a winning season.
“We seem really focused this year,” Kalis said. “We had really great workouts at training.”
The soccer team has five returning seniors: Cameron Divoky, Jacob Gonzalez, Adolfo Inguanzo, and Cristian Ramos. Ramos has been playing for the Tracy High School soccer teams for four years and he hopes to achieve the goals that the varsity boys set.
“Our team goal is to be the top three in league and to be able to make it to playoffs,” Ramos said.
This year, you will see some new faces in the crowd, as Kalis pulled up seven sophomores to the varsity team. Kalis feels that the young players could contribute to this season for the greater good.
We’re a young team,” Kalis said, “We got up to seven sophomores, so our goal is to be in the top three in league and playoffs.”
Ramos also has his opinion about how the varsity team is so young.
“I think they can help us out because they are very skilled,” Ramos said, “even though they are very small compared to last year’s seniors, they are skilled.”
The team is in the San Joaquin Athletic Association (SJAA) league which includes: Tracy, Lincoln, Lodi, Chavez, Franklin, and Bear Creek.
“Franklin and Chavez have been the top two schools for the past two years,” Kalis said.
Kalis believes that those two high schools are going to be Tracy’s biggest competition in their league.
“Well our league is pretty competitive,” Ramos said, “and you can really beat any team or lose to any team, so there is not really a team way better than anyone else.”
Ramos and the four other seniors are hoping to be an example to the new players on the varsity team. Ramos is most excited about being the example for the younger players.
“To have the responsibility to be a leader on the team is a great honor, and it’s exciting to see the sophomores and juniors look up to you,” Ramos said.
The soccer teams could have played on the new Wayne Schneider Stadium, but Kalis did not want his team to play on new grounds.
“We had the opportunity to play there, but we’re practicing on the grass field in the back of the school, so I wanted us to play on the same surface we were playing on,” Kalis said.
Tracy’s first game is at home against St. Mary’s on Sept. 4, at 5:15 p.m. Their away game is against Kimball High School on Sept. 6, at 5:15.
