It’s been a long eight months for student athlete soccer players, but the Skyline College men and women’s soccer teams are ready to take the field again.

September marks the beginning of soccer and the fall sports season. However, both soccer coaches have been practicing with their teams for weeks already. The lady Trojans, led by head coach Kevin Corsiglia, have been training since early August.

“Training begins on August 1st, and we’ve been practicing for four hours, two times a day,” said Corsiglia, in his 11th year as head coach.

Returning player and sophomore leader Arianna Picazo embraces the soccer season, and is confident and ready to give her all to the sport she loves again.

“I enjoy the speed, being outdoors, or when my teammates or I score a goal. You feel proud of yourself and your team because you all worked together as one,” Picazo said. “We’re all expecting to play as we know how… as a team, not individually”.

Men’s soccer coach Daniel Link, like Corsiglia, will be entering his 11th season as the head coach. After so many years of involvement in the program, Link is still passionate about coaching the Skyline men’s soccer team. However, he recognizes that success in soccer is largely up to the players.

“Soccer is a unique sport. It allows and athlete to be creative and make many decisions on their own. As a coach, you hope to prepare the individuals and team properly in practice, so they can make the proper decisions in competition…. It is a player’s game. Witnessing this development and maturity of the student athletes is the best thing about coaching.”

The men’s team will have a fresh start this season, with only four returning players. The youngest team in at least 15 years, 21 of the 25 players are freshmen. According to Link, there was a great amount of interest in joining the men’s soccer team this year.

“We had over 50 athletes come out for the squad this year. We will be keeping 25 on the roster, with five to ten redshirt [practice] players.”

Link understands that having a very young team can be challenging, but still looks forward to coaching young student athletes.

“This team seems to have a great attitude to learn, necessary for development of the individual and team,” said Link.

The women’s soccer team will play their first pre-season game against Monterey Peninsula this Friday, September 2. The women will begin their regular season for conference games beginning on September 15 against Mission College.

The Trojan men will look forward to their first match on September 6 against Shasta College. Men’s soccer will open the regular season conference at home on Friday, September 23, against De Anza College.