Only 30 girls signed up to participate in the soccer program this year, the smallest number in the team’s history. Twenty-seven athletes comprise the girls’ varsity soccer team, the largest number of players to ever be rostered on one team. Because the average varsity roster has about 24 players, there were not enough girls for a full JV team.

Despite the unusually large number, captains Camila Sabisky, Lilah Gaber and Stephanie Sarkar believe that it will not hinder the team’s goal of winning SPC in February.

“The soccer team at St. John’s has never won an SPC championship,” Head Coach Susan Quill said. “This is one of the first seasons where everyone on the team believes that is achievable.”

The captains value establishing a strong bond with all ten freshmen, as they believe that the team with the best connection off the field will perform the best on the field. Although Sabisky and Sarkar were both first wary about trying to get to know all of the new players, especially freshmen, they now believe that the addition of freshmen will be beneficial for developing players at an earlier age.

“People are definitely more willing to work hard for people they care about than the people they don’t know that well,” Sarkar said. “It’s really important for us to [establish that bond] this year.”

Sarkar and Quill also believe that the large roster is beneficial in practices as the team can conduct full-field “inter-squad” scrimmages.

“It actually gives us more depth to pull from. In games where we are winning by a lot, we can pull out our starters and rest them and give other girls minutes on the field,” Sabisky said. “That will actually help us a lot more in the long run. I don’t see [the large number] being a problem in any way.”

The team’s first time playing together resulted in a championship title at the St. Mary’s Hall Tournament in San Antonio over Thanksgiving Break. According to the captains, spending time together during the bus ride, in between games and at the hotel allowed the team to get to know each other better.

“It was a really good first showing, and it showed a lot of promise for the future of varsity,” Sarkar said.

The captains strive to encompass the values of hard work, teamwork and keeping a positive attitude when games do not go well to ensure that the entire team stays interconnected and gives maximum effort on the field. Sabisky values serving as a role model for the large number of new girls on the team to demonstrate proper worth ethic.

“What we like to instill in our girls is when you play, don’t just play for yourself — play for everyone else around you,” Sabisky said, “[Your] teammates are the people who have your back through everything and who are going to be affected by your actions. ”