Kicking into the new school year, students all around Howard County are eager to join the new recreational soccer league. Every Sunday, students from Marriotts Ridge face off against other highschool athletes at Centennial High School. These athletes have been preparing since early summer for this opportunity to play, and are having a great time doing it.
As the new fall season begins, athletes who usually don’t play soccer join the league to have a fun time with their friends outside of school. These new players have been enjoying their time out on the pitch and the audience is loving it too.
“I love the good energy at the games,” senior Laura Himmel remarked, “when the players do the celebrations, that is my favorite part.”
As the season advances the team continues to introduce new and better celebrations. But, coaches from opposing teams do not like the celebrations calling them rude, disrespectful and unfunny. However this will not stop the Conquistadors from doing their celebrations after every single goal they score.
“I think the celebrations are perfect the way they are and I think they should be more exaggerated, the boys are out there to have fun and that’s the whole point of it all,” said Benji Nagiel, a captain on the Conquistadors program.
Furthermore, Benji cares deeply about the team’s celebrations, thinking and creating more celebrations every week. Benji is a very creative man, the next celebration he plans to do is with a sleeping mask..
“I got a big one planned for my next goal,” Nagiel stated.
Benji played a big role in starting the team, inspiring many of the other players to come join. He is a great captain for the team pushing for practices, giving pre game speeches and brings up team morale. As played high-level soccer as a kid, he coaches the rest of the team to help them on the rules and certain skills of the game.
Another important member of the program who isn’t on the team is senior Boston Brown, he is the goalie coach for the keeper, Christian Luke. Their chemistry is unmatched, practicing before and after the games, they talk about what happens throughout the game and communicate efficiently about what happens during the game.
“I have scouted out the other team’s strikers and they are not ready for Christian’s athleticism,” Brown pronounced.
Even while being in goal the keeper Christian Luke still manages to be the team’s leading scorer, standing on top, leading the team to a so far undefeated season.
Brown isn’t alone in his coaching duties with the head coach being Casey Sullins, a senior who got involved in the Conquistadors program. He puts the plays together for the team and aligns the players into their positions.
The defensive stars on this team are Jack Vantine, Jackson Komin and Robert Page, who worked to limit the shots on goal. This star defense also helps keep the ball on the other side of the pitch, letting the offense handle it from there.
Looking into the future, the Conquistadors program has a couple games with tough teams coming up next. The starting midfielder senior Michael Machiran is extremely prepared putting in the most amount of work in the past off season. He is confident in his skills and his team to prevail victorious.
“We have a tough road ahead, but we are fully prepared for the challenging schedule we have coming up before us,” Machiran declared.
Machiran is a force to be reckoned with having 13 shots on goal so far this season and many more to come. Assertive on the field, Macherian is a constant offensive and defensive threat on the pitch.
All across the Soccer Association of Colombia, players and coaches fear the Conquistadors. The Conquistadors are not a threat to be taken lightly with their intense skills and passion for the game, other teams do not stand a chance against them on the pitch. All the while Conquistadors have fun while playing soccer.