As a sophomore, Brandon Arias was a starter at center defense and one of the top players on Sedona Red Rock High School’s young boys soccer team. Arias hopes that the upcoming season goes a lot smoother.
The Scorpions had some promising moments during the 2019-20 season but those were few and far between, as they won only two games. Looking forward to his junior season, Arias is hopeful that a more experienced team can better mesh together.
“I’m just hoping my team comes together so we have a better season than last year,” Arias said. “But with incoming freshmen and my friends from last year who are coming back, I think we’ll do it. I expect to have better chemistry than what we had last year.
“I’m pretty sure that everyone played in every game. They know what’s expected through the games. So they’ll have an idea of what’s expected of them. And we have a new assistant coach [Jason Metzger]. So we’ll have someone to help guide us through the games better.”
While Arias and his teammates gained varsity experience a season ago, the timing of this season is different than any of them are used to. Soccer was a winter sport at SRRHS a year ago. But at the end of last season, the decision was made to make soccer a fall sport at the school.
That’s not entirely new for the Scorpions, as soccer was originally a fall sport at Sedona. But it was moved to winter more than a decade ago, well before Arias and his teammates ever stepped on campus.
That change will do two things for Arias. On the unfortunate side, he will not be able to run cross country for the Scorpions in 2020. Arias not only ran for the SRRHS cross country team as a sophomore in 2019 but was one of the faster runners on it, consistently coming in as one of his team’s top three runners at meets.
On the positive side, it will be a little warmer during the games than last season. That will make it more comfortable for the players and, if spectators are allowed, may bring more of them out to the games.
“It’s new for me,” Arias said. “I’m not sure what to expect temperature wise and what to expect through the game. Last year the games were pretty darn cold at night.”
Since last soccer season ended in February, a lot has changed. The closures brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic made it difficult for athletes to stay sharp. But Arias said that between going to the park and kicking the ball around with friends and teammates who made a Sunday league, he’s still played roughly four times a week.
After graduation in 2022, Arias hopes to go to college and eventually dental school. It’s an interest that stems from talking with friends and colleagues of his mother, who work in that field.
“They talk about it sometimes,” he said. “And it seems like something I’d want to do for my future as a career.”
But that’s in the more distant future.
In the short term, Arias is ready for the high school season and hopes that it can go off without any issues.
“I’m excited for the season and looking forward to playing,” he said. “Hopefully the virus doesn’t get worse, and we have a decent season with a lot of games and can keep practicing. And I’m hoping we have a lot more wins than last season and hopefully we can go to the tournament by the end.”
