In the past, the Parker community could only cheer on its girls soccer teams in the springtime. Now, the Parker community can also cheer them on during the winter too! Now, without dealing with the cold weather, one can still watch a soccer game. The girls soccer indoor team brings more opportunities to watch the players run down the field as the ball rushes past the enthusiastic crowd with the teams sprinting after one another.

The girls soccer indoor team is a new addition to the Francis Parker athletic community. The team is called the “Park Hers”. While the team is made up of Parker students, the Park Hers is not a sponsored Parker sport and is not a part of the athletics program that Parker offers. The team will consist of many girls in the high school who are deeply invested in playing soccer. “I think that it is a great way for me to get to know the players that I will also play in the spring season,” freshman Alex Carlin Said. The captains are senior Abby Smith and junior Senna Gardner. Smith and Gardner are also going to be the captains of Parker’s sponsored girls varsity soccer team.

Although the girls soccer indoor team, Park Hers, is newly-formed, the idea has been circulating in the back of the minds of both Smith and Gardner. This year they finally pushed and made it happen. “I know we kind of have been talking about maybe doing that on the girls side for awhile,” Smith said. However, until this year, no girls indoor soccer team was ever established for Parker players. The captains are excited for the season, optimistic about the team’s chances and want more players to sign up.

Since this indoor team is not controlled by the athletic department, the captains hold a lot of power. “A captain holds a great deal of responsibility,” Gardner said. This is Gardner’s first year being captain. She is alongside Smith who is a returning captain.  Smith believes that she is up to the challenge of the responsibilities of being captain. “If re-elected captain next year, I would work my hardest to bring this excitement to the rest of the team, including girls who may not consider themselves an important member of the team or soccer their first sport,” Smith said in her 2018 captains application.

The two captains seem to have similar hopes for the team. Gardner also recognizes the importance of the players’ being engaged and enthusiastic. “Every single player on the team needs to feel valued. Every single player is necessary in order to win,” Gardner said in her application.  This team will give opportunities for players not always valued to be seen and heard before the actual season starts.

The winter season will give the girls soccer team the chance to develop the chemistry that is needed for their upcoming spring season. “Good teams develop from strong practices, good relationships that extend beyond the field, and trust,” Gardner said. The winter season will help prepare the players for the upcoming spring season while also getting extra chances to play against other people who are passionate about soccer.  “It provides us with a fun way to improve our skills and stay in shape” Carlin Said. Thus, the girls soccer indoor team will help improve the chances of the Parker sponsored girls soccer team going farther in their league.

Indoor soccer is very similar to outdoor soccer with a few exceptions. Some of these accommodations are that each team has seven players, either team can’t be up by six points, there is no offside, no punting, and the games are only 40-45 minutes. “It’s warmer, there are less people on the field at once, its less running and it’s easier to get to know people,” freshman Ivy Jacobs Said. The Park Hers team will practice and play games at the CIBC Fire Pitch and have weekly games. The team consists of about 22 girls. Unlike the Parker school teams the Park Hers will not be split up into two different squads and it will be one full team.

“I want this team to be successful and that will only come through hard work and determination,” Gardner said. Both Gardner and Smith have figured out a way to make this team a reality by working around and with certain rules. “No school belonging to this Association shall organize its Girls Soccer teams, practice or participate in interscholastic contests earlier than Monday of Week 35…” IHSA(Illinois High School Association) handbook said. Even though CrossFit trainer and spring coach Neil Curran is forbidden by IHSA  rules to coach this indoor team until the official start of the season, the team still plans to work hard. The coach for the 2018 indoor soccer team with be Zuri Mabrey Wakefield. Even though there is going to be two separate coaches each season it will give the team the time to gel and have the unofficial preseason they want. Even though there is a coach for the team, it will be mainly run by the captains and the players.

This team will be a way for students at Parker to do what they love a little bit longer. This won’t only be the returning spring soccer players, but the new players who can see how things work and build new relationships before the start of the official season. “I think it will be a great way to establish and get to know some of the girls on the spring soccer team,” Carlin said.

“It starts now, by working on the team dynamics off season by getting ready for next year together,” Smith said. “We plan to play on Friday nights sometime between six and ten!”