Q. How long have you been playing the game of soccer now?
A. I have been playing soccer for about nine years now.
Q. What are your earliest memories? Can you remember the team and who coached you?
A. I played in a recreational league at Morris Soccer Association. I played for Twin Oaks Savings Bank and my coach was Mr. Campbell.
Q. What was your motivation for wanting to play the sport?
A. My brother started to play the sport before me and he always inspired me to try new things so I decided to give it a go. It was one of the best decisions of my life.
Q. Have you played any other sports in the past? If so, which ones?
A. Yes, I used to play baseball before I even started to play soccer. I also did wrestling my sophomore and junior year at MCHS.
Q. What do you like the most about the game of soccer?
A. I like the passion and intensity of the game. There is never a dull moment while on the field.
Q. Let's turn our attention to this year's team. Why do you suppose the Redskins have been so up and down this fall?
A. We, as a team, needed to come together as a unit to succeed. There were games where we did come together and games we did not. I believe we have come together now though as an actual team and are ready for the rest of the season.
Q. This is coach Valdivia's second season. What has it been like to play for him?
A. To be able to play for Coach Valdivia is an absolute honor, he brings a ton of intelligence and emotion to the game. He has this way of motivating us Redskins that makes us feel like we can accomplish anything. He is a huge inspiration to not only myself, but to the whole team. I love the guy.
Q. A lot of coaches in the NIB12 complain about having to play soccer on the football field saying the dimensions of the field throws their games off. Does that benefit the Redskins when playing at home? If so, how?
A. Yes, it does benefit us because we are able to use the yard lines as references when we make certain plays or are defending against a free kick.
Q. We're getting close to regional time. Do you guys feel like you've made the kind of adjustments necessary to win another regional this year?
A. Yes, we are more than ready for regionals. We want to become the first MCHS soccer team to win back to back regional titles.
Q. Also, is that the goal — to win another regional or are there bigger goals the team has in mind?
A. We have much larger goals than winning the regional title. We want to be the first soccer team in history at MCHS to win sectionals, and even state.
Q. What's it going to take for that to happen?
A. It's going to take a lot of hard work to accomplish these goals. We have to play as a unit and everyone on the team is going to have to give everything they have in order to succeed.
Q. Finally, if you had a piece of advice for a young kid coming up in Morris who wanted to play soccer for the Redskins, what kind of advice you you give them to be ready to go?
A. I would tell the kid to play with heart, and when things get tough to remember that he or she is a Redskin now and Redskins never give up.
