With the coronavirus pandemic cutting the season short, the varsity girls soccer team claimed the conference title for the first time in school history with a 6-2 district record. Their title was shared between Wylie East and McKinney North.
“I am very proud of the team,” head coach Ian Keeble said. “We worked and sacrificed a lot since I moved over to the girls side the year before last. I am especially happy for the seniors whose year has been cut short in so many ways but get to say they were district champions. For the younger players, it is definitely something to build on and I know they will be motivated to go win another outright.”
Junior striker Katie Welch describes her reaction to the first time she heard that the team had won district.
“Figuring out the team won districts for the first time ever was definitely an exciting time, and I felt really proud of my team knowing we were fighting really hard to win,” Welch said. “There was definitely doubt within the team since we were sitting in third, but we definitely had the motivation to win, and finding out we won was a great reward for our hard work.”
According to junior striker Hannah Dunlap, the win was a team effort.
“My first emotion was just overjoyed that we had won, but then I was super proud of the whole team, because we honestly could not have done it with each player and coach Keeble,” Dunlap said. “The fact that we worked so hard just makes it all worth it, because we won. Every Saturday practice and after school practice feels worth it to be where we are today.”
While the team is just now coming off of a district win, Keeble is already thinking about growth for the next season.
“First up is everyone coming out of this period of isolation a better player than they were going into it,” Keeble said. “Since we are sharing the district championship with Wylie East and McKinney North, we want to win the district championship outright next. We know that it is going to take even more work and sacrifice to do that but the group is ready.”