Five dedicated, excited, and skilled freshmen have made an incredible addition to the Olympia High School girl’s varsity soccer team this year. This breaks the normal standard of 0-2 freshmen on varsity per year.

Head Coach Tamara Liska has been coaching for Olympia High School since 2016, this year is her seventh season. She stated that freshmen on Varsity are very rare, “My other six years there have been three freshmen on varsity total, one year there was one, one year there was two, all the other years had none. This year’s addition of five members of the class of 2026, Brynn Udo, Avery Draper, Sydney Kosa, Abby Carter, and Blayke Warner, is a shocking contrast. It is evident that there must be something about this class of soccer players that sets them apart from the rest.

Head Coach Tamara Liska claimed that this class is “Skilled, hungry, tenacious, and full of grit.” and an “overall very strong class” when it comes to soccer.

Abby Carter, a freshman on varsity, has been playing soccer since she was 4 years old. “I was in major shock when I found out that I made varsity,” says Carter.

There is a certain pressure that comes with being a freshman on Varsity, Carter is more than familiar with this. She stated that she feels like she has to be doing her best every time she is on the field and fears making mistakes since she is an underclassman on a very high-level team. “At the same time, I probably have three more years of this and can improve and improve. This is just the beginning”.

When asked if so many newcomers had any effect on the team, Coach Liska’s response was completely positive. “It’s been really fun, it’s an awesome group, they work very well together.”
The upperclassmen have been incredible at taking the freshman under their wing and teaching them about the Olympia High School Soccer Program. Haelynn Kim, a senior on the varsity team says “walking into a pretty solid varsity squad as a freshman cannot be easy, but they’ve done such a great job learning everything at an accelerated speed. Very very proud of them.”
The freshmen are very eager to absorb and learn how to carry out the traditions that girls’ soccer practices. All the learning and across-class bonding have provided new energy and excitement to the team.

Both age groups agree that this change is very positive. Referring to the upperclassmen, Carter stated “They are all really supportive of me, helping me with anything that I need, giving me rides, I really love them”.

Kim states “Adding the five freshmen was like getting five new little sisters who we get to drive around all of the time”.

Events like these soccer players and freshman catching the spirit stick (See the article “A freshman takeover”) make you wonder, what else will the class of 2026 achieve?

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