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Pac-10 In Print
• Cal Women's Soccer Cal Women's Soccer 2007
Written By: Valerie Barnes The Cal Bears just finished our last home weekend with two wins against Washington State and the University of Washington. For the seniors, Sunday was a very special day for them. Traditionally, it is the job of the junior class to decorate the locker room and the individual senior lockers with goodies of their liking and other fun memorabilia. The realization that next year I will be in the same position the seniors are in was quite emotional. As the seniors walked into the transformed locker room of streamers, balloons and hanging lights, the emotion that was hiding inside everyone came out. With our theme song of Mariah Carey's "Always be my Baby" playing in the background, our entire team stood in a circle with our arms around one another singing and laughing through small tears. We knew it would be difficult to put the emotions aside with it being Senior Day and our last home game; however, looking around the room, I could tell every single Bear was ready to play their hearts out for each other and especially for the seniors. After the game, we had our final tailgate of the season. It has been a tradition for several years that after every home game on Sunday the parents organize and bring food for a tailgate for family, friends and fans to hang out and eat. There are always a ton of people that stay, and it is really cool for us to get to see a lot of the people that came to our games to cheer us on. Tailgates not only bring our team together, but it also allows us to get to know each other's families. Aside from soccer, our team loves to sing. It's not that any of us are good at singing or can even hold a single note, but we will sing to anything. Along with dancing, I think singing together as a team is great for team chemistry and bonding. Whether it's trying to sing along to the National Anthem before a game or screaming the songs during karaoke at Kips, we will always sing. Though we may not sing very well, I must say we are more known for dancing and some signature moves. Some players on the team are definitely more advanced than others, but dancing is just another piece to what brings our team closer together. One event several of our teammates participated in last semester along with other Cal athletes was "Toe to Toe." This was a huge fundraising event that is most likely to become more frequent. ODC, a dance company in San Francisco, and Cal athletes competed in various competitions and obstacle courses, and then the event as a whole came to a close in one big dance production where the professional dancers and Cal athletes danced together. Singing and dancing have become a way of life for the Cal soccer team. Looking ahead to our final weekend of Pac-10 play, we travel to Oregon to take on Oregon State and the University of Oregon. If we win these two games, we hope to secure a spot in the NCAA playoffs. We have come a long way this year, having to make many transitions and overcoming some bumps along the way. If we keep playing with the same heart and desire we played with this past weekend, we will be in good shape. Go Bears!
Valerie Barnes
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