The Saugus High School Varsity Boys Soccer team did more than just reach the semi-finals this year, though that would have been good enough considering the stiff competition in the league
But parents, teachers and sponsors should remember that sports gives boys a chance to be boys.Everyone witnessed their talent, especially with team captains Larry Guizar, named Player of the Year and Kyle Ernsberger, the leading scorer of the season. But besides all the great scores, the boys just had a blast this season. Seth Groller, the boys’ coach as well as a math teacher who sees them even apart from soccer, says that the boys are a great bunch of guys with good chemistry as a team, as the boys proved throughout the year. From teasing Kyle about “short shorts” Wednesdays to offering a dozen poses of Eric Carlson for the picture, the guys obviously have as much fun off the field as they do on it. Still, as we all know, life holds more than just fun and games and this is the time of year that high school seniors begin to prepare for it. All over the country kids apply for the best colleges, but the ten seniors from this team have a little boost to help get started, a great soccer record. Colleges look for great athletes to help beef up their teams and these boys have been sure to get their names out there. All the boys said that they plan to play soccer and these days, a good athletic record means more money. Simran Bhogal and Eric Carlson have already been accepted at Cal Poly, though they have yet to make their own final decisions. James and Justin Mansour are trying for CSUN. Most of the others haven’t heard from colleges yet, and they haven’t decided where they want to go or what they want to study. And why should they? They’re only boys. But wherever they go, soccer is an important key. For some of these guys, it could open the doors to medicine, kinesiology and many related fields. On the other hand, with David Beckham in Los Angeles and a growing interest in soccer nationwide, a career in this sport might also be a popular goal. Meanwhile, the juniors and sophomores look forward to another year or two of soccer at Saugus High School, which just means more chances to build up their record for the colleges. New guys will join the team and they will work as hard on the field as they always have. Being boys, they’ll play just as hard. 