by Tiffany Hammond, assistant editor

How long have you been playing soccer?

Since I was like 4, so my whole life, pretty much.

Has the high school team been different than teams in the past?

Yeah, like just waking up early and all wanting to be there and all working hard; if you’re out of shape, you’re vomiting together, sweating together, playing together–just everything is together, and everyone loves the game. It’s awesome.

What is your favorite part about soccer?

I just love the sport. I love being able to play it, I love all the guys on the team, I like being able to be on a team, I like to work together, win together, lose together; I like that brotherhood.

What’s the hardest workout you guys do?

So far it’s been the bleacher mile, which is when you do a snake**, run a lap around the track, two snakes, a lap, three snakes, a lap, then four snakes, and a lap, and you have to try and finish under 25 minutes.

Who would you say is your inspiration on the team?

I’d say Coach Salerno is a pretty big inspiration. He’s really cool and is such a nice guy. He always comes out every morning, no matter how bad we’re doing, and even if we play bad, he always stays calm… unless we’re stupid–then we run. Plus, some guys on varsity–they’re really nice guys. I’ve already made friends with some of them. They’re all really cool.

Do you ever feel stressed out having to juggle a sport and school?

Yeah, it’s hard getting homework done, but it’s worth it. You can’t fail classes, because then you don’t get to play soccer. You want to be able to have a nice balance, which is important.

**Up the bleachers, run across the top, go down the bleachers, then up again, then across, then down, and that’s one snake.