The women’s club soccer team has been working tirelessly to rebuild their program after complications left the club being deemed “inactive” this semester. As a result of their inactive status, the club couldn’t get a table at the involvement fair or a budget, though they held an interest meeting last Thursday to gauge membership for this year.
“As of right now, because of a little bit of a problem that we had last year, we’re considered inactive, which is why people probably haven’t heard from us,” sophomore club treasurer Mallory Downs said.
The issue over recognition stems from the fact that the previous executive board, which was composed primarily of upperclassmen, did not attend a mandatory club sports meeting last year. Executive club members had to attend that meeting for their club to gain recognition.
Since the club is currently considered inactive, it isn’t allowed to schedule practice time or use soccer balls from the school. The men’s club team was willing to split the field with the women’s team, which now practices Wednesday nights at 8 p.m. The women’s team spent their practice time supporting the men’s team at their home game this past Wednesday to show their gratitude.
The rest of the team’s executive board is now made up of Downs’ classmates, who are all sophomores. Lily Kubany and Lily Dell serve as president and vice president, respectively, while Kyra Reese and Claire Kocis are the secretaries. The captains are Lizzy Quilty, Emma Bruther and Lauren Scienski.
Downs said that the club made a new Instagram account, @lafwomensclubsoccer, and is posting infographics on Facebook to promote itself. The team also hopes to be recognized as active for the spring semester so they can start scheduling games or tournaments. Downs said that for now, the team is focusing mainly on technique as well as team bonding to try to involve the freshmen.
“I think it’s going to be more serious than last year because, in terms of being competitive during the games, I think we have a better ratio of people who are experienced and actually care,” Downs said. “With all of the team bonding stuff we’re trying to plan, I think off the field we’ll be pretty close. We want to get to know everyone to the point that if I walked by someone, she would feel comfortable talking to me if I just met her – a fun environment, but also a strong team.”
