Carly Peterson

Anticipation was in the air. There was a smell of damp grass from rain the day before. You could hear the thundering sound of players running across the field, trying to impress the coaches. All were competing for a shot on the Monarchs girls soccer team.
Tryouts this year started March 3 and ran all week on Monarch’s football field. Multiple players were excited for tryouts and the coming season.
“I’m definitely not as stressed as I was last year,” Sophomore Addison Page said. “And I think our team is going to be really good this year.”
Though there were less girls at tryouts this year, the team shows a lot of potential. With a combination of talent and different ages, they could even make it to state!
“Our team’s really young, so I feel like we could be really good,” Page said. “The new freshmen will be good contributors to our team.”
The new freshmen are also excited for the season. Six girls of the class of 2028 tried out and had good opinions on the team so far.
“The coaches are nice, the girls are nice,” Freshman goalkeeper Stella Hanlon said. “They are very inclusive.”
While the teammates are nice, the tryouts themselves were hard. The team did running drills, a juggling test, and 1v1’s to show the coaches how they play. They even played a drill game called ‘Doggies’.
“You have to run across the field and when a coach blows his whistle you have to drop on the ground. When he blows it again you have to get up and run backwards,” Hanlon said. “My knees were so bruised.”
Unlike the drills, Hanlon was more excited to meet the girls. Monarchs soccer is set for an outstanding season, full of wins and friendships.