Dougherty Valley’s Varsity Women’s soccer team bonds over years of practice, experience and shared memories on the field. In this question and answer session, the team opened up about their interests and journey on and off the field.

Q: What is your name, grade and position?

TE: My name is Tara Escobar, and I’m a senior on the varsity women’s soccer team. My position is left outside back or defensive middle.

NY: My name is Naimah Yadav. I am a senior and a defensive midfielder.

AA: My name is Aishwarya Agashe. I’m a junior, and I play goalie.

RB: My name is Rhea Billon, and I’m a senior. I play center back, and I’ve been on the varsity team for three years now.

AP: My name is Ashna Patel. I am a junior, and I play defensive middle.

MT: My name is Mackenzie Tierney. I am a junior, and I play in the midfield.

KS: My name is Kiran Singh. I’m a senior and a center forward.

MH: My name is Ma’ila Hicks. I’m a junior and an outside back.

FB: My name is Farah Baig. I am a junior and an outside back.

MB: My name is Marlena Bevilacqua. I’m a senior defender.

Q: When did you start playing soccer? What inspired you to play? 

KS: When I was four years old. My older siblings played, and I always enjoyed playing with them.

TE: I started playing soccer when I was about seven years old. My dad was the person who inspired me to play.

NY: I started playing at the age of four. My older brother inspired me to play.

AP: I started playing soccer when I was four years old. My older sister and dad played soccer as well, so I started playing when I was very young.

MH: I started playing soccer in third grade. I was inspired to play by a random pick-up game I was in. Although I had never played soccer at the time, my dad said I was really good at it. I decided to try it out, and I’ve been playing ever since. 

FB: My dad signed me up for soccer seven years ago even though I did not want to play. I decided to try it and loved it. I’m so glad my dad made me try it out. 

MB: I started playing soccer when I was around four years old. I grew up in a soccer family — all my brother played so I started to play as well. 

Q: What’s your favorite soccer memory?

MB: When we won against Livermore, [because of] how excited everyone got.

RB: My family has a love for soccer. It has always been an outlet for me, but my favorite memory this season was when we won our first league game.

AP: My favorite thing about soccer is being on the field with my friends. I love to make jokes and hang out with [them], so it’s a win-win situation.

KS: I have always enjoyed the competitive yet fun spirit between my teammates and I.

Q: How have you grown this season?

KS: I’ve enjoyed the sport more than I have in years. I learned to push myself and be happy for my teammates’ successes.

AP: This season has definitely helped me improve in a lot of ways. There [has] been a drastic difference from my time on the team last year and this year. Most of my improvement has been mental, and not only have I improved in decision making skills, I have also developed a better attitude towards the sport in general. 

RB: What I have learned from being on a team my whole life is an important factor to the way that I have grown as a person, and it is one of my favorite parts about playing. 

MH: My personal growth has been great this season. I think skillwise, I’ve gotten much better. As a person, I’ve learned to be more carefree and make things more fun than stressful. 

FB: Being on a team with so many great players and people has definitely made me feel like I have improved. My teammates’ positive attitudes also contribute to my self-confidence.  

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Q: What are you looking forward to the most this season? 

MB: I am most looking forward to senior night. 

MT: I’m definitely most looking forward to playing against Foothill, my old team. When I moved to Pleasanton last year, I went to Foothill and played on varsity. But I transferred back to Dougherty Valley because it was overall a better fit for me than Foothill. I look forward to playing against my former teammates and current club coach. It’ll be a super important and fun game for me to play.

KS: I’m looking forward to our senior night versus Dublin!

MH: I’m most looking forward to playing against Cal High because I have a lot of club teammates on their team, and it’s fun to play against your teammates.

NY: I’m most looking forward to our senior night game. It’ll be my last league home game at Dougherty Valley, and we’ll also be playing against our rivals, Dublin.

FB: I’m looking forward to senior night against Dublin because I love all the seniors, and think that seeing them off will be a bittersweet time because they’re off to accomplish bigger things. 

Q: Do you want to play soccer in college? 

TE: I am not entirely sure about playing in college yet, but I’m still going to try out to play collegiate soccer.

MT: Yes, I do hope to play in college. It would be a great opportunity if I was able to.