At the year-end Live Oak High Athletic Boosters Club Award Night, Emmy Goble knew she had earned the girls soccer Most Valuable Player award. However, the recent Live Oak High graduate had no idea she had earned the school’s top honor, the Female Athlete of the Year award, as voted upon by the Live Oak coaches.
Acorns coach Tony Vasquez and assistant coach Tony Goble presented Emmy with the award, but not before she had a few tears welling up as her dad talked about what made her special.
“I remember him saying something about my motivation and watching me grow, and that I’ve always been a hard worker,” Emmy said. “It was pretty cool and special that my dad was one of the coaches and got to present me with the award. I’m a perfectionist and want to be the best at anything I do. And not that I am the best, but I strive to be my best.”
Goble was a two-sport standout in her senior season playing soccer and tennis. On the pitch, she was a midfielder who helped the team stay calm in tense situations. On the court, Goble was what they call in the prep tennis world a “wall,” or someone who returns everything and is remarkably consistent with the ability to run down balls that most players wouldn’t be able to retrieve, much less get back over the net.
Goble was one of the key players for a Live Oak girls soccer team that won a Central Coast Section playoff game for the first time in several years. The Acorns beat Woodside Priory on penalty kicks, with Goble connecting on the squad’s first attempt. Incidentally, Goble was battling the flu, limiting her minutes that day.
“Toward the end of the game we were down a goal and I put her in for inspiration,” Vasquez said. “The last five minutes you could see the girls fighting for each other, not wanting their season to end. Emmy got the ball, made things happened and we eventually scored.”
Goble said a pair of then-freshmen—Emily Funk and Molly Newquist—deserved praise. Funk connected on the penalty kick that put the Acorns ahead, and goalkeeper Newquist made a save that set up the game-winning heroics.
“I was excited for both of them and what they did,” Goble said. “It’s going to be exciting to see where this team goes because they have a lot of good young players.”
It should be equally stirring to see how Goble develops at Evergreen Valley College. Goble can be one of the prototypical players who go unnoticed by four-year schools out of high school but develop at the community college level and receive a healthy amount of offers afterward.
How serious is Goble about continuing to develop her game? Whatever vacation plans she had this summer went by the wayside once she committed to play for Evergreen Valley. The California Community College soccer season is a fall sport, meaning teams begin conditioning and practice in the summer.
“I’ve got more important things besides summer vacation plans,” she said. “It’s OK and it’s worth it to definitely not travel so I can practice and compete for a starting position on the team.”
Vasquez said Goble had a calming influence on the squad, always able to be composed even in chaotic and tense situations.
“Emmy’s ability to communicate to younger players who looked up to her was a huge part of our success,” Vasquez said. “The reason why she was the MVP was because of her ability to make other people better and make them feel more comfortable on the field, whether they were a freshman or a senior. In soccer, a lot of times when there is pressure, you panic. But Emmy was our safety net, meaning when people had pressure, they could always give it to Emmy and she had the composure to settle things down. She could switch the field and get us out of pressure. More than anything, she’s grown most in her leadership. She always had a great work ethic and tried to get better.”
Goble’s drive and enthusiasm to improve stems from wanting to tap every ounce of talent out of of her body. Even though soccer is her No. 1 sport, Goble excelled in tennis as well. Goble played tennis in her junior and senior year, earning team MVP honors both seasons. This past season, Goble split her time playing No. 1 doubles and No. 1 singles.
Goble went undefeated during her senior season, largely because of her tenacity, conditioning, court awareness and ability to track down balls at an incredible rate.
“I would say I have quick feet from soccer, so I was able to get to most of the balls and hit a lot of back corner shots,” she said. “I don’t know how it happened—sometimes I just hit it hoping to get the ball over and a lot of times I would get a point out of it.”
Goble said her four years at Live Oak High has been a period of growth and production.
“Live Oak has done some great things for me, and I’m excited for the next chapter of my life,” she said.
