Boys Soccer: Selma Bears Take on the New Season

As the football field got transformed to soccer by new paint and netted goals, a group of 23 eager varsity players started their season. This year’s boys’ soccer team is led by Ruben Zamora, along with assistant coaches Antonio Torres and Rigo Torres.
Ruben Zamora is a former Selma Bear, playing for the soccer team up till he graduated in 2013, then going straight to coaching afterwards. His coaching experience consists of four years of junior varsity and seven years of varsity soccer. Zamora has high hopes for this season, with a strong and motivated team.
“My goal for this season is to showcase the amount of talent I have in my roster. And keep winning games to keep Selma on the map,” he says.
The players have high expectations as well. They have had a good start to the season and are positive they are on the right track forward. Shortcomings have been identified and they can already see improvement on their work.
“Practices so far have been improving very fast, first couple of weeks we all tried to get a feel for how the season will be, but we have definitely picked up the pace and are continuing to improve. We started off the season playing some very talented teams and I think we have proved we can compete, and are a team to look out for this season,” says senior Andrew Becerra. Becerra has been a goalkeeper for many years and is playing his last season for Selma High. He sees the importance of the team’s focus on building chemistry and friendships, for both himself and the team.
“As important as it is to practice on the field it is also important to build chemistry off the field,”says Becerra. “This helps us trust one another and make that shift from teammates to a friend. This season is my last season and I am working on getting closer to everyone on the team, coaches and staff included.”
Jesús Antonio Avendano is also playing his last season as a senior. As a center midfielder Avendano’s role is all over the field. His most important tasks are to create opportunities in attacking, support the defenders and overall keep the team composed.
“The season so far has been good, we have shown good talent.” said Antonio Avendano. “Our objective is to always win. We are a hungry squad and we want to get our ring. As a team we need to improve on making less mistakes.” He agrees with the optimism around this season while recognizing that they still have imperfections to work on.
The season has brought challenges with adapting to the loss of last season’s seniors, but has opened the opportunity for upcoming players to step up and into those positions.
So far the team has delivered two good victories and one slight loss in the series. Their first win was a 3-1 against Hanford, which helped them show why they deserve their high ranking. A tough start against a good team put them three goals behind Sunnyside, but they kept working and ended with a slight 3-2 loss. A 3-2 victory against a strong Tulare Union has shown that the team’s confidence is rightful, and that the rest of the season looks promising.
Although the team has delivered some good games, it seems to be a big focus on improving the mentality of the group.
“Maturity is one of the areas that need improvement and I feel like everyday we take a step forward,” Coach Zamora says. Senior left winger Francisco Mariscal points out that imperfection as well when talking about the loss against Sunnyside.
“We were playing good and making Sunnyside work for the win but we lost our heads and played like a different team,” he says, but praises his teammates for keeping up the work and almost tying the game.
Mariscal is motivated and has faith in his team.
“We will continue to improve by staying committed and make sure we bond as a team,” he says.
The players seem to have the right mindset and determination to achieve their goals, both in making friendships and winning games.
Coach Zamora is satisfied with his team so far, claiming they are talented, hardworking and passionate players.
“I couldn’t be more proud to coach this amazing group of young men, there’s something special about this team!” he says.