Soccer is an extremely demanding sport; athletes spend countless hours practicing their control over the ball and preparing their body for the nearly five miles of running that happens during a game. Parkway Central’s varsity girls soccer team is having a breakout year and are taking their momentum to carry them throughout the playoffs.
Senior Clare Johnston tells her story on this season and her concerns after sophomore Gabie Klaven recently got injured with an ACL tear. Klaven also talks about what she will do to recover and how she will prepare for next year’s season.Johnston has been on varsity for three years and is ready for the challenges that will come this season.
“My goals for the season are to focus on improving my own game and not comparing myself to everybody else, and also for the team to do better in districts. We haven’t gone as far in the past as we wanted to, so I think this is our year,” Johnston said.
Gabie Klaven has been on varsity both years of high school and continues to push herself to be better than the previous year.
“This season my goals were to just improve from last season and make a big impact in the way I know I can. I wanted to have at least a few goals and goal contributions because last year I only had 1 goal and 2 assists,” Klaven said.
This season both girls have worked hard to prove to themselves and others that things are different, and it all starts with team connections.
“This year we are working more as a team and that has really worked well for us. We try to have each other’s back and be there for everyone,” Klaven said.
“We always like going out to get food together, celebrating together, and then also, we have traditions, for example pasta night before our first game of the season,” Johnston said.
Recently the girls played Eureka which were the runner ups last year and in a higher class. They tied that game and the girls are extremely proud of that outcome.
“That felt really good. I think that was a marker of how far we’ve come as a team and how this year really does feel different. Tying those types of teams makes us feel really proud of ourselves because going into it we were the underdogs,” Johnston said.
“We just went out there and tried our hardest and it paid off. I definitely wish we pulled out with a win, but I’m happy with the tie,” Klaven said.
An unfortunate accident happened with Klaven tearing her ACL. Devastating to both her and her teammates, as they hope for a quick recovery.
“I was super, super upset for Gabby. I was on the field with her when she went down and I think ACL tears are especially scary, because you know it’s such a big setback,” Johnston said. “It scares you because you never want that to be you, and you never think it’s gonna be you until it happens to you.”
Klaven has been trying her hardest to not let the injury get the best of her, keeping up a strong mental state which she will carry through her recovery.
“My recovery process includes physical therapy and just having a good mental mind space because of how tiring and stressful this recovery process is. My recovery is going to take me all the way up to next season and I know I’ll be ready to play by then. My goals for next year are to be an even bigger leader and prove that I can come back stronger from this injury. I want to be a good teammate and just have a good season,” she said.
Pre-game prep and mental state are very important to how an athlete can play, both Johnston and Klaven take it very seriously.
“Before a game, I always want to try to forget about anything else on your mind and just focus. I use soccer as an escape, so I kind of channel any anxious or bad energy that I’ve had throughout the day and direct that towards the game,” Johnston said.
Klaven has a similar pre-game ritual.
“The mental aspect I have before practices is that this is how we prepare for games. In high schools you rarely have any practices when the games start picking up so just knowing we don’t have many chances to get out and practice makes me want to go on the field and try my best,” Klaven said.
