The soccer players representing Ánimo Pat Brown for the school year of 2012 are seniors Carlos Flores, Rafael Guevara, Jose Lopez, Steven Solis, and junior Eddie Valdez.
The season started on December 13, 2011 with a victory against Ánimo Venice and the boys made it to playoffs with the help of one another, making sure that they interact and have communication throughout their games.
“I improved as games passed because I had more communica-
tion with the other players,”
forward Carlos said.
Each player is different in the way they support and interact with other players.
“I try to be friendly with everyone and cheer up my teammates. We all commit mistakes and everyone tries to support others,” middle fielder Rafael said.
Determination also played its part in encouraging the boys to give their full effort in each of their games to reach playoffs. They all had the same goal and same focus on what they wanted to achieve and where they wanted to take their team.
Even though soccer is after school, it is still time consuming and intervenes with school and other responsibilities.
“I do not go to practice as much due to AP guided study,” middle fielder Jose said.
Jose attends practice 2 times a week and feels not attending has a negative affect on his performance, but school is a responsibility for him and his main focus is to stay on track.
Due to the lack of a school bus, APB soccer players must make the journey to Ánimo Jackie Robinson on public transportation, causing their late arrival to practice.
“Most of the time the people from AJR are already ready and they are just waiting on us,” forward Steven said.
Unfortunately, the Monarchs were eliminated in the first round of play-offs.
“It was heart breaking because it was the first game and unfortunately we did not come out with the win,” goalie Eddie said.
Even though they were eliminated during the very first game in play-offs, the fact that the team even made it to play-offs was a glorious moment for the players and a memorable experience.
