Scorpions soccer team welcomes new coach, new players2 min read

By
Jeff Bear
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The Sedona girls soccer team goes through a kicking drill during their practice on Nov. 20.
Jordan Reece/Larson Newspapers

Sedona Red Rock High School’s girls soccer team is venturing into the unknown this season.

With a new head coach and a passel of new players, including several freshmen, the girls are concentrating on becoming a team that is united both on and off the field.

The excitement level is high, as evidenced by the fact that 28 girls are competing for positions on the team, but that number will eventually be divided into both varsity and junior varsity squads.

New varsity head coach Juan Carlos Aguilar, who coached the Scorpions junior varsity last season, said that the plan is to have two separate teams.

“Last year, I was coaching the J.V. and we didn’t have enough players that were freshmen, so we borrowed some juniors from varsity to make up our team,” he said. “But this year, I have 15 to 16 girls on the junior varsity and, of those, I have 10 freshmen already. So it’s a good outcome.

“Freshmen are the base of our program, because they are the future.”

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Aguilar said the Scorpions do have three returning starters from last year’s team and those three — junior Sadie Foley, sophomore Kierya Shelley and sophomore Naomi Garcia — will be counted on to help lead the charge and unite the team, which Aguilar said is important.

“Right now, they are becoming very united,” he said. “One of my goals is to unite the team where everybody is on the same page, so it’s a very strong team right now in that factor.”

Foley, Shelley and Garcia also all play defense, which should make it difficult for teams to score many goals against the Scorpions.

“I believe our biggest strength is our defense,” Aguilar said. “Because we have the most experienced girls there.”

For the full story, please see the Wednesday, Nov. 27, issue of the Sedona Red Rock News.

Jeff Bear

Jeff Bear began his journalism career in 2003 as a graphic designer and sports reporter at the Weekly Register Call in Central City, Colorado. In 2007 he began working at the Canyon Courier in Evergreen, Colorado, as a graphic designer, but soon transferred into the editorial department where he worked as a copy editor and sport reporter under Editor Doug Bell. After a stint as a graphic designer at American Classifieds in 2009-10, Bear began working in 2011 as a copy editor at the Arizona Daily Sun, in Flagstaff. While at the Daily Sun, Bear was tapped by the late Randy Wilson to report on local sports including Northern Arizona University and Olympic medalists training in Flagstaff for the 2012 Olympics. In 2013 Bear began working at the Red Rock News in Sedona, Arizona, where he was an assistant editor and sports editor. Bear has two daughters, Angela and Jessica, with his wife Nina. He is a singer and guitarist, an avid cyclist and hiker, and enjoys camping with family and friends.

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Jeff Bear
Jeff Bear
Jeff Bear began his journalism career in 2003 as a graphic designer and sports reporter at the Weekly Register Call in Central City, Colorado. In 2007 he began working at the Canyon Courier in Evergreen, Colorado, as a graphic designer, but soon transferred into the editorial department where he worked as a copy editor and sport reporter under Editor Doug Bell. After a stint as a graphic designer at American Classifieds in 2009-10, Bear began working in 2011 as a copy editor at the Arizona Daily Sun, in Flagstaff. While at the Daily Sun, Bear was tapped by the late Randy Wilson to report on local sports including Northern Arizona University and Olympic medalists training in Flagstaff for the 2012 Olympics. In 2013 Bear began working at the Red Rock News in Sedona, Arizona, where he was an assistant editor and sports editor. Bear has two daughters, Angela and Jessica, with his wife Nina. He is a singer and guitarist, an avid cyclist and hiker, and enjoys camping with family and friends.