With the spring sports season underway at Branson, the girls soccer season is coming to a close, and the teams are bringing their best to the field in the final weeks.
Kara Kandankulam ‘27, a player on the girls varsity soccer team, expressed her excitement for the season after getting moved up from junior varsity at the end of her first year: “It is my first year on varsity officially,” she said. “The team is very welcoming and [coach] Tyler [Gottschalk] has given me a bunch of opportunities to play.”
So far, the varsity team has taken home 12 games, only losing twice and drawing once.
“My experience on varsity as a freshman has been really fun,” said Anya Sridharan ‘28. “I’ve met so many upperclassmen and so many new people who are now my good friends.”
She added, “Even though I’m one of the youngest on the team, I think playing with older players makes me a lot better.”
Team bonding on the varsity team has helped the players build strong connections with one another. With 25 girls from different grade levels, team bonding is key to good teamwork.
“Bonding on the team is amazing,” said Kandankulam. “You get to connect with so many people outside of your grade and everyone is really nice. The soccer team also goes out together, like to other teams’ games, or we have pasta dinners together.”
Sara Trimble ‘28 is the goalkeeper for the girls junior varsity soccer team. Trimble described her experience so far on the team as “fun, but a lot of work.”
“We have practice five days a week, and games substitute for practice,” she said. “It has been fun to play people I know from different schools, especially people on my club team.”
Trimble highlighted some skills the team practices — both athletically and teamwork related — and how it affects their performance on the playing field.
“We do dynamic warm ups, passing lines and then rondos, which are like monkey in the middle,” she said. “At the end of practice we usually do a scrimmage or fitness, like running sprints.”
Both teams are excited for the season ahead.
Sridharan said, “I’m looking forward to future games and hopefully winning the MCAL final!”
