Soccer Joining Forces
Coach Rijpma snaps a picture during a scrimmage at one of the teams weekly open gyms,” It’s really awesome how we all get together and play as a team before the season starts” said Ava Hillard ‘24.
This year the GHS girls soccer program has decided to co-opt with East Dubuque. ED will be sending girls over to join Galena’s team. This will give the program more numbers and give East Dubuque students the opportunity to play because they did not have their own team prior to the co-opt.
With different sports being played at the same time as soccer, having another school to get players from will be very beneficial to the GHS soccer program. “Getting players from ED will help out numbers that we didn’t have last year,” said Emilee Rodriguez ‘22, “The new players have skill sets that will be beneficial for our varsity team, especially after losing the seniors from last year”.
Getting the opportunity to be a part of a soccer program is super exciting for the East Dubuque students. “I think joining a school program will be fun and different from playing club soccer, I’m definitely ready to start playing for Galena,” said East Dubuque sophomore Keaira Funston. As the season approaches all of the girls have been getting to know each other during open gyms and are full of anticipation for the upcoming season.
This year also comes with a new addition to the coaching staff. GHS alumni Kaileah Gornick has taken on the role of assistant coach. These changes are very exciting for the pirates and are making everyone optimistic for what is to come.“I believe the co-opt between Galena and East Dubuque is a great way to grow the soccer program. Now we should be able to field a JV team each season, giving every girl the opportunity to play a lot of games” said coach Jordan Rijpma, ”Our goal is to go for one of the top spots in our conference and keep the program fun and accessible for all girls interested in playing soccer.”
