When a college sports team warrants pity from its opponents,
there
’s almost certainly a problem. Before last year, the Gavilan
women’s soccer players warranted pity from their opponents. And
there were plenty of problems. In 2002, things got so bad for the
winless Rams that the opposing team often stopped keeping score
once it got to 15-0. Nobody wanted to pla
y a team that wouldn’t give it any competition. And to add
insult to injury, nobody wanted to referee or play on Gavilan’s
home field, where gopher holes outnumbered soccer players.
When a college sports team warrants pity from its opponents, there’s almost certainly a problem. Before last year, the Gavilan women’s soccer players warranted pity from their opponents. And there were plenty of problems.
In 2002, things got so bad for the winless Rams that the opposing team often stopped keeping score once it got to 15-0. Nobody wanted to play a team that wouldn’t give it any competition. And to add insult to injury, nobody wanted to referee or play on Gavilan’s home field, where gopher holes outnumbered soccer players.
So at an offseason meeting, Coast Conference coaches agreed that it was simply a waste of time to travel to the Gilroy campus. And that’s when things started to change.
Before the start of last season, the program hired coach Marty Behler to save the program. And although the record didn’t necessarily reflect it (the team lost 15 of its 19 games), the turnaround was immediate. Instead of losing track of opponent goals, the Rams were pushing teams to results like 2-1 and 4-3.
“After a lot of the games, the other coaches would come up to our players and tell them that was the best Gavilan team they had ever faced,” Behler said. “So I definitely think we’re on the right track. We want to make this program respected.”
One very large step toward respectability was the recent upgrading of the home soccer field. With the field deemed unplayable last year, the Rams played no home games and only practiced on campus about a third of the season. Even when it did attempt to use the home turf, the team was confined to a small patch of grass with no markings and no goals.
Then the college’s bond issue passed. Money was finally available. And after players and coaches thought it would never happen, Gavilan hired groomer Dave Brown and his crew to cut, water and mark the team’s playing field in preparation for the upcoming season.
By the start of practice this month, the goals were up and the playing surface was close to perfect. The team will begin its eight-game home schedule with a Sept. 2 match against Sacramento City College.
“No more sprained ankles!” said second-year player Jessica Garcia of Gilroy. “It really makes everything so much easier.”
Of course, so does an upgrade in talent. The team returns Garcia and three others, while adding eight promising first-year players – a group of newcomers that has a distinct Hollister-feel.
Out of San Benito High comes Jenaya Guerrero and Anna Gathierer, who will battle for the starting goalie position, and midfielders Monica Vazquez and Allison Filice, a pair of Rams who have a chance to play for four-year schools, Behler said. The team also adds the versatile Yvette Jimenez, a Gilroy High graduate who Behler referred to as “Speedy Gonzalez.”
“Last year we had problems with everyone jelling together,” she said. “This year I see a chemistry on and off the field and I see a team of worker bees, where everyone does their job and works extremely hard. I really see a lot of good things for this team.”
