By Shelley Henry
Special to the Daily Record
San Marcos — After completing a season that surprised many in their district, the San Marcos Academy Bears soccer team will travel to Tomball Saturday for a bi-district match against the Tomball Concordia Lutheran Crusaders at 2 p.m.
The 11-5-3 Bears, led by head coach Scott Moore, placed third in TAPPS Division II-District 3, finishing 4-4-2 in district play. The scrappy Bears had some experienced players on the roster, but also went into the season with several rookies in key positions-rookies who quickly learned the ropes and made significant contributions to the team.
The team truly is something of a cultural melting pot, with players who represent six different countries: Nigeria, South Korea, China, Mexico, Angola and the United States. Despite their different backgrounds, the team has united in a unique way.
Josh McIntyre, a junior from The Woodlands and another rookie player on the squad, said the team has bonded tightly over the course of the season. “This team is awesome,” McIntyre said. “We have people like Memo Borrego of Mexico, who is amazing, and then several who are brand new to the game like me. I never realized how much strategy there was in the game of soccer. It’s really a mental challenge as well as a physical one.”
McIntyre gave soccer a try in order to stay in shape. “I had always wanted to play soccer, but didn’t have the time before,” McIntyre said. “This year I played football and will also be in track, but there is such a time gap between the two; I decided to try soccer so I could keep in shape. Turns out, I really love the game and wish I had started playing sooner.”
Yet another player new to the game, Cameron Whitehead, a San Marcos junior, was a second team All-District linebacker and offensive lineman on the football team.
“Soccer has been enjoyable this season,” Whitehead said, who also plays baseball for the Bears. “This sport, like others I’ve played, helps me in competition and bonding with my teammates.
“The sport has been fun because of the amount of effort I have to put in to be successful as an individual and as a teammate for the Bears. Going to the playoffs is as exciting in this sport as it was in football, when we went to the playoffs earlier in the year.”
Because the Academy doesn’t have enough girls to field an all-girls team, their squad is co-ed, with two girls playing right alongside the boys. Herriott Parker, a sophomore from Georgetown, is one of those girls.
“I like being with the other nationalities on our team,” Parker said, a returning player from last year. “It allows me to learn so many different approaches to the game. Being one of two girls is hard work, but I like being with the guys. They build up my courage, and they don’t cut us any slack, either.”
A key player this season has been Wimberley junior Darby Rollins, a standout pitcher for the baseball team who decided to give soccer a try in order to keep in shape.
“Basically, I just wanted to get in better shape for baseball season,” Rollins said. “I wanted to be able to run faster. The coaches put me at goalie because I have pretty quick reflexes and good eye-hand coordination. Those are skills I’ve developed through playing baseball, and they transferred pretty naturally to soccer.”
Rollins’ ability to guard the net is obvious by the 11 shut-outs the team recorded over the season. Rollins gives credit to his teammates for the Bears’ toughness on defense, but clearly his 6-foot presence and natural athleticism is a major factor in the team’s success.
“I had to learn how to play the position and had to learn the rules, but it was a pretty easy transition,” Rollins said. “I wasn’t necessarily expecting to do this well in soccer, but it’s been a fun sport to play. I really like our teammates, too; we’re like a big family-it’s really cool how many nationalities we have on the team and how well we have meshed.”
Another bright star on the Bears is Memo Borrego, a sophomore from Nuevo Leon, Mexico, who said he has always dreamed of playing soccer on a professional level. He had the chance to move a little closer to that dream in December, when he spent ten days at a tryout camp for the Cancun national team. Working out with others in the sub-17 year old category, Borrego said he worked harder than he ever had before. “We played from 7-10 in the morning and then went to the gym,” Borrego said. “Then we had afternoon practices after that.”
David Cruz, the Bears’ assistant coach, helped line up the major league opportunity for Borrego, who, Cruz said, has some great soccer skills. “They liked him a lot in Cancun,” Cruz said. “He stayed on for ten days, which is longer than we expected. He has an open invitation to return next summer.”
Borrego said finishing school at the Academy is his first goal, and then he has hopes of playing for a college in the United States or possibly returning to Mexico to join a professional team.
“Right now we are so excited about going to the playoffs,” Borrego said. “A lot of people weren’t expecting us to do well this year, but here we are.”
