Minutes before the first half ended, junior Chris Scott’s recreational soccer team was losing yet again.
It was the team’s second to last game, and they had yet to bring home a victory — or even a goal.
Suddenly, a forward on his team managed to dribble past a defender. To everyone’s amazement Scott’s team scored its first goal of the season — an arcing, slippery ball that just grazed the goalkeeper’s fingertips.
Even though they were still losing, Scott’s teammates cheered, jubilant at their first goal. “Finally,” two girls beamed, high-fiving each other as they ran back to their side of the field.
Scott could only grin widely; it was these moments of rec soccer that made the game worthwhile for him.
“When we scored the first goal this season, it was awesome. I felt a rush of adrenaline. It was just pure enjoyment,” Scott said. “We made some mistakes, but we had some great plays. We lost this game, but we scored — finally. It feels like a victory for us.”
While competitive soccer players live for the trophies and titles they can win, rec soccer players celebrate the smaller victories. For Scott it was the one goal his team managed to put in the net; junior Theo Choma’s triumphs were more individual.
“It feels pretty awesome to be a defender or a goalkeep[er] and to hold the opposition scoreless,” Choma said. “To sprint back for that epic slide-kicking stop, to make the dive that tips the perfect shot out of the goal … those moments, the ones that give you an almost-high on adrenaline, are my best moments.”
Soccer players who crave victory try out for high school soccer, but athletic director Jennifer Mast said soccer also cuts the highest number of students during tryouts each year. Both the boys’ and girls’ soccer teams at RBHS — varsity, junior varsity and C-team — add up to around 55 kids.
Senior Rachel Clark participated in RBHS soccer her sophomore year because she wanted to play at a higher level.
Although it was a good way for her to learn more about the sport she loves, she decided to go back to rec the next year.
Competitive soccer “was much more focused on skills [than rec], and I didn’t really know anybody, compared to my rec soccer team where I had a bunch of friends. I only knew two people on the C-team and the rest were, like, cliquey freshmen,” Clark said. “High school soccer was OK, but I only played it for one year; I ended up going back to recreational. It’s much more focused on having fun than being the best at soccer. It’s better for me because I like playing sports for fun rather than just for winning.”
Choma said rec soccer players still strive to win, but that’s not as big of a focus as it is for competitive players.
Choma’s team Mexico is evenly matched with the other teams in his league — most of his team’s games have been close or ended in a tie. While he considers winning to be a great part of soccer, he enjoys other, more relaxed aspects of the game as well.
“I talk to my fellow defenders or opposing forwards when the ball’s on the other side of the field. [The game’s] partly a social event because most of us know each other by now,” Choma said. “Some people invite friends to come and watch, and that helps add to the social atmosphere.”
Senior Drake Tevis’ team Spain consists of a core group of players who have been together for three years. This time together has allowed a strong bond to form between them.
“It’s interesting at [the first] practice when we all get to know each other and eventually become a big family,” Tevis said. “We work off each other’s strengths and weaknesses; we look out for each other. Like [in one game] when I went to throw up, [junior] Jack [Vornholt] played both my position and his position when I was walking across the field to go tell Coach I was going to throw up. Families watch each other’s backs like that.”
The family atmosphere and not the fact that the team is undefeated — and therefore the best — in its league makes rec soccer the greatest for Tevis.
“It’s fun to win, but it’s about the love of the game. In competitive they’re all about winning and don’t do anything [fun] simply because they love the game,” Tevis said. “Rec soccer doesn’t have to be your whole life. Yes, we are undefeated. We practice hard, we play hard and then we leave it on the field.”
Likewise, Clark said it doesn’t matter what type of soccer program a player participates in. The important thing is for a person who has a passion for a sport to get an opportunity to play it.
Playing “rec is a better decision for me personally, but it can go either way,” Clark said.  “Basically, it doesn’t really matter whether you play rec soccer or high school soccer. In the end it’s all soccer, just concentrated on different things.”
By Kirsten Buchanan