The MacArthur girls are getting ready for a strong performance in the soccer tournament on March 25 at Greenville Fundamental, from 8:30 AM.  The girls soccer team is coached by P.E. Teacher Mr. Patrick Evans, Segerstrom High School Coach Melissa Mazariegos, and Math Teacher Mr. Jim Axton.  Evans has been teaching this sport for 17 years, and Axton has been teaching this for 2 years.  Evans coaches many other sports including boys soccer and cross country.

Besides coaches, student managers help out.  They set up the field, take roll, and manage equipment.  Practice is four days a week.  Monday and Friday, it starts at 2:30 and ends at 4:00, Tuesdays and Thursday it starts at 2:30 and ends at 4:25, and Wednesday, the girls rest.  There were about 70 girls who tried out, but only 20 can make it.

Evans looks for aggressiveness on the field because soccer is an aggressive sport.  Conversely, he wants each girl to have a polite attitude and be a nice person.  The girls practice working on conditioning like running, sit ups, sprints, and interval training.  The skills they focus on include dribbling the ball, passing it, and shooting it.  The team also practices footwork, offense, defense, short sided,  scrimmage, and just having fun.

Seventh grader Briana Eggers and eighth-grader Evelyn Hernandez, who tried out for soccer said, “We enjoy soccer practice because it makes our day a little better. Aside from most of all the exhausting running we do, we end practice with a really intense and fun scrimmage with an amazing team.”

For almost every year, MacArthur has had a girls soccer team.  They have been undefeated three or four times.  Last year, the team lost to Mendez on the final game and came in second place.  The score was 3-2.  There are 4 games at the tournament; 2 pool games – semi finals – finals.  Evans hopes that the girls will win this year.