Willow Glen Resident

News

Photograph by Diana Diroy

Go For It: Willow Glen resident and Goonies player Tracy Pingree (right) works to retain the ball against a player from the San Jose Shots in the Silicon Valley Soccer League.

From last to first, Goonies are tops

By Mayra Flores De Marcotte

For some, extracurricular sports played in high school and college belong to that era. Once their school days have ended, graduates' lives move on to the next big thing. For eight Willow Glen women, soccer has imprinted itself permanently into their psyches. It was just a matter of time before that playing fever resurfaced with a vengeance.

Christy Henzi was 18 when she stopped playing soccer. She went to college and became a probation officer. Ten years later, the soccer bug returned. The sport beckoned her back to the field.

"There are very few times in life that you have that instant gratification as you do with soccer," Henzi says. "You get to feel good without the wait."

In 1999, she and a group of women started the soccer team "Just for Kicks." The women played for the Bay Area Women's Soccer League. The women started at the bottom of the league's ladder as a Division 8 team, but as their teamwork, good hustle and some killer strategies developed each season, the team started climbing the ladder, one rung at a time.

Cohesiveness and continuity also made the team competitive, with a roster of around 19 players who played 10 games per season.

"Most of the girls have played together for years," Henzi says. "We are never short players at our games."

Three seasons ago, the team moved into Division 4. That year the team decided to change its moniker to The Goonies.

"Most of us grew up in the 1980s. The Goonies was our favorite move," says Henzi about the '80s film about a group of adolescent outcasts in search of lost treasure.

"You gravitate back to the sport," says Willow Glen resident and soccer player Kristen Fellner. "It's something that takes you away from the craziness of your job and daily life."

Fellner played in her youth and says she can never give up soccer. It's more than just a sport for her.

"It's such a stress reliever," Fellner says. "It's also great exercise, and you get to hang out with your teammates. During the off-season, I go through withdrawal."

Team members range from 25 to 40. They are attorneys, teachers, probation officers, social workers, stay-at-home moms, law students and graphic designers. Eight of the players are from Willow Glen, a number of whom moved into the community after joining the team.

"You could almost say we were recruiting for Willow Glen and not just the team," Fellner says.

Sara Stewart is one of those players. She played soccer while in high school, but as an adult finds it more of a mind game.

"You get wiser over time," Stewart says.

That strategy has fed the team's success.

By the fall of 2005, the women were playing at a collegiate level and had an undefeated season to boot. They duplicated that success in the spring of 2006. The women also switched leagues, becoming part of the Silicon Valley Soccer Association.

This year, the team finished the season with a 7-1-1 record, good enough to win their division. Going into the spring 2007 season, the team will move from Division 1B to Division 1A.

The bump-up will add fuel to Stewart's competitive nature.

During the week Stewart plots out upcoming games. She emails back and forth with her teammates and discusses strategy over coffee or lunch.

"When you're as competitive as I am, thinking about a game all week long is your natural high," Stewart says.

Everyone else in Stewart family wasn't exactly on the playing field when she returned to the game.

"My husband didn't understand it because he never played," says Stewart.

Once he attended one of her games, the adrenaline kicked in on the sideline, and he was excited by all the action.

"He's finally understanding," says Stewart, about the high level of play. "There's never a dull moment."

The team plays its games on Sundays; although there is no official practice, most of the women play indoor soccer during the week to keep in shape. The practice and discipline kicks into high gear once the season begins. The women plan their daily lives around their games.

"You make your plans for Friday nights and not Saturday nights because you want to be relaxed for the games," Fellner says.

Henzi and Fellner once cut a trip short to Lake Tahoe in order to come back in time for a Sunday match.

"It's a special group of girls who are always there for each other," Henzi says. "They want to play with the same intensity as they had years ago."

Only now it has become a family affair, with children donning jerseys with their mothers' numbers as they cheer loudly on the sidelines.

The camaraderie on the field also extends off the field. The women have potlucks, movie nights, and wine and cheese parties.

It's this sense of family and the cohesive bond off the field that has created a strong team, Henzi says.

"If you took away the competitiveness and everything else, you're left with friendship," she says.

And the women say that trumps any undefeated season.

The Goonies are looking for Willow Glen sponsors. For more information or to sponsor, call 408.892.9345 or email sara.stewart@sbcglobal.net.