Lady Dons Soccer ranked first in preseason, look towards CIF
December 8, 2014
Coach Dawn Lee carries nineteen Varsity Girls Soccer players into her seventeenth season as Head Coach. Seems simple, until the fact arises that the girls are ranked number one in the preseason rankings in the entire nation. No pressure, right?
Practicing every day when the girls do not have a scheduled game, the team is based on hard work and dedication in every endeavor. The girls “start with a team dynamic warm-up followed by skills, and then games,” said Coach Lee. The Lady Dons, along with Coach Lee, feel that “each practice is a prep for an upcoming game,” as they work on skills in the afternoons and on Monday mornings.
The girls are training to claim another CIF title for the Dons, four time CIF Champs in three different divisions and three time State Champs to put it more exact. “Here at CCHS and even at USDHS our goals are always set high…win league, win CIF, and win State! Play and win as many games as you can in the season,” said Coach Lee.
As the Head Coach, Coach Lee feels that her “job is to keep the girls healthy and cohesive throughout the season to help achieve our goals,” she said. Cohesiveness on the field stems from the girls relationships with another and with their Head Coach, and the girls “know that I am here for them whether it is about soccer stuff or just life in general,” Coach Lee said.
For Coach Lee, she works just as hard on her own time as she does on the field with her girls. She balances her Varsity team duties and other responsibilities by teaching a bootcamp style class at Xplicit Fitness three days a week prior to the school-day, while also playing on a women’s soccer team on the weekends. “My girls know how hard I work and that is a good model for them to put the work in,” said Coach Lee.
The Varsity Lady Dons Soccer team gets together as a group to train and bond with one another off the soccer field at the gym Coach Lee teaches at. “Last year we did a yoga session and years before we did a Zumba session. We will also get the group together to play some foot golf,” said Coach Lee.
Such events help the girls to achieve their ultimate goal of CIF State Champs because “it is really important for there to be a sense of family amongst the team,” said Senior Kelsey Irwin. “The bond that we create helps us on the field because we understand each other, which makes us play better,” said Senior Paige Haley.
For the girls, they take pride in playing on the number one pre-season ranked team in the nation. “Making Varsity my freshman year was huge for me, and over the past four years I have grown a massive appreciation for such an honor,” said Kelsey. Their love for the game, which began at age four for Kelsey Irwin and at age five for Paige Haley, has lead them to opportunities beyond high school. Currently, nine girls, both juniors and seniors, on the Varsity team have committed to playing soccer at the collegiate level. “I am going to be attending Virginia Tech next fall and will be playing soccer there. I am extremely blessed for this amazing opportunity and am excited to see where it will take me in the future,” said Kelsey Irwin.
From the field, to college, and beyond, the Varsity Girls Soccer team faces another season and another chance to score a CIF State Championship title. The Lady Dons begin their season with their first games at home in the 8th Annual CCHS Butch Lee Memorial Tournament this week, and Coach Lee and her team plan to “work to the best of our ability and to be able to walk off each field with no regrets,” said Coach Lee.
For more information on the Butch Lee Memorial Tournament or on the girls’ team stats, click on the links below.
Also, follow @ElCidSports on Twitter for updates on the girls’ season.
