Despite only having a JV and varsity team during previous seasons, the increasing amount of girls trying out for soccer prompted the creation of a freshman team for the 2024-2025 season.
“We had enough girls coming to try out, and years prior, we had to cut a lot of people, so now that we have the coaching staff, the possibility opened up,” said new freshman coach Allegra Ferme.
Tryouts started on Nov. 4 as students competed for their spots. Along with the introduction of the freshman team, this is Ferme’s first experience coaching soccer. Having played growing up and being on the Carlmont team when she was in high school, Ferme has a lot of experience with the sport, as well as numerous people helping her out.
“I have a lot of good people that are going to help me, like my dad, he used to coach, and obviously the JV coaches. I’m feeling pretty good, I’m going to do my studying and get practice plans together,” Ferme said.
With each player being skilled and having quality, the coaches need to make tough decisions on who to choose for each team.
“They’re making it really hard for us to make cuts right now, we have a lot of tough decisions to make. We have about 42 total trying out for freshman and JV,” said JV coach Natalia Manzanares.
Tryouts consisted of different drills to assess each aspect of the game. Shooting and dribbling drills were used to test each player’s technical ability, while one-on-one and two-on-two games helped determine players’ individual qualities. Along with these smaller-sided games, 11-versus-11 scrimmages were played, as coaches watched for standout players in real game situations.
Although they were competitive, players enjoyed the tryouts and being able to play with their friends. Alongside this, the players were happy that they added a freshman team this year.
“It gives more people opportunities to play who might have gotten cut otherwise,” said freshman Gabby Broadbear.
Even with the positive attitude, the creation of the team and expansion of the soccer program comes with its own difficulties.
“It’s going to be challenging because we’re not going to have many games, there aren’t that many freshman girls teams to play against, it’s still a building program,” Ferme said.
Although Manzanares has prior experience at Carlmont, she echoed the similar thoughts to Ferme.
“It’s definitely new, I haven’t really heard of freshman teams for girls soccer even from since when I went here,” Manzanares said.
Despite these challenges, Ferme hopes to have a successful season with the new team, with her main goal being to help the girls improve.
“I think there’s going to be a lot of growth in practice with building the team and getting them to be synced up so that they’re ready to go onto JV next year,” Ferme said.
