Even though Jenna Urrabazo, Taylor Mejia and Jessica Schween play for a strong club program, it can be intimidating for freshmen to burst onto the high school scene and fit in well. Social dynamics are in play, as the juniors and seniors on the team set the tone to create a thriving team atmosphere or a toxic one.
At Christopher High, the upperclassmen have been nothing but outstanding in welcoming the freshmen to the squad, allowing the trio of Urrabazo, Mejia and Schween to shine. There are a total of seven freshmen on the squad, with the aforementioned three players playing starting roles.
Mejia plays center midfielder, Schween mans left fullback and Urrabazo the forward position opposite Division I-bound player Aurea Martin, who has set the tone for a great team dynamic by welcoming the talented younger players to the squad. The three freshmen all were pretty nervous when they took the field for the first time this season; however, the senior leadership of the team helped all of them settle in nicely.
“Aurea, Ally (Euchari) and the seniors calmed me down in the first match and said I’d be fine,” Urrabazo said. “That really helped me out a lot.”
Mejia and Schween echoed similar comments.
“The girls provided so much support and helped us with anything,” Mejia said. “I remember being really timid and scared to get the ball in the first game, but the girls made me feel really comfortable and safe.”
Said Schween: “The leaders on the team are super nice and friendly, and they don’t treat us like freshmen—they treat us like we’re all the same.”
The junior and senior class players have been instrumental in the team’s growth and responsible for one of the great stretches in Christopher High girls soccer history. Last season, the Cougars came within a whisker of advancing to the Central Coast Section Division I playoff semifinals, falling to Leigh 4-3 in overtime. They also won an A-league championship for the first time in school history, a testament to the play of Martin, Euchari and Jackie Sanchez, three seniors who have made a huge impact on the program from the time they were freshmen themselves.
Mejia, Schween and Urrabazo have solid role models to look up to, and if they keep on improving, the program will thrive for years to come. Christopher High coach Matt Oetinger said there is one word to describe Mejia’s play: tenacious.
“She comes out with the ball in crowded spaces, on the 50/50s, and it’s almost an intangible kind of thing,” Oetinger said. “She distributes the ball well, marks well, defends well, and if she loses the ball she’s tracking it immediately. She’ll go into a group of two to three players and you bet money there is no way she’s coming out with the ball and she does.”
After losing the first league match to San Benito, the Cougars ran the table, rolling off nine consecutive wins to clinch their second straight outright Gabilan Division championship. Once Martin graduates, Urrabazo will be one of the players looked to fill the goal-scoring void.
“Jenna is a super dynamic player,” Oetinger said. “She’s got great speed, really good vision and is definitely learning her craft. On her club team, she is more of a setup player, but here we’re asking her to be more of a finisher as well as a player who sets up others. She has a ton of upward growth potential and is one of those one to two players when the light bulbs go off and she gets comfortable and understands her abilities, she’ll have a meteoric rise in her play and ability.”
Schween also plays with plenty of tenacity and has a vital role in being one of the point players for the team to transition from defense to offense and offense to defense without losing rhythm. Since the Cougars like to utilize play from the back, Schween receives the ball from the center back or goalkeeper and her first touch initiates Christopher’s march to the other end of the field.
“Her first turn is unbelievably fast and accurate, and it’s something that quite frankly is pretty fantastic for us,” Oetinger said.
Mejia, Schween and Urrabazo have all made their fair share of mistakes; however, they have responded well and learned from their miscues to turn them into strengths. They’ve all thoroughly enjoyed their time at Christopher, and never thought they would have starring roles as freshmen. But they’ve proved time and again why Oetinger has them on the field, and now look to be the next generation of standouts who lead the program to sustained excellence. For high school programs to thrive year in, year out, they must have a strong freshmen class come in every couple of years. This year’s senior class has blazed the path for all other incoming freshmen classes to thrive.
“This senior class and this team has had a lot of success,” Oetinger said. “You look at these freshmen, this is what the team will build off of.”
