Bella Horton is heading into her senior season with the Sedona Red Rock High School girls soccer team. While she’s been playing soccer since she was 5 and is entering her fourth year of varsity soccer for the Scorpions, Horton’s senior season will throw a new challenge her way.
After playing as a midfielder for her first three seasons, Horton will shift to the starting goalkeeper position, replacing Carolina Lopez, who graduated in 2020. Horton did have some time playing the position a season ago as Lopez’s backup, but overall, her time in net has been limited over the years.
“Not too much,” Horton said, when asked what her experience at goalkeeper was. “I played a little in rec ball when I was younger but really started last year as a junior.”
The soccer team can officially begin practicing on Monday, Aug. 31. Horton and the Scorpions did get some work in over the summer during the optional workouts in June. But those were stopped amidst the second COVID-19 spike and the soccer team hasn’t returned since.
Even with the limited practice time, Horton is excited and curious to see what the upcoming season will bring.
“I feel like it’s going to be a really interesting year for it, as well,” she said. “With how we didn’t get to do as many summer practices as normal — didn’t get as much practice time in. And it’s my last year.”
In addition to playing on the soccer team, Horton will also play softball in the spring. Like with soccer, she’s entering her fourth year with the team. In softball, however, Horton will be in a more familiar role as pitcher.
Following her graduation in the spring, Horton hopes to attend the University of Washington and plans on majoring in sports medicine.
“I’m in the sports medicine classes in high school,” Horton said. “I’ve always had a thing for the medical side of sports. Once I looked at medicine, I liked the whole idea of bringing people back from injuries and everything.”
Horton added that while she’d like to continue playing sports in high school, she is “not really aiming to be a college athlete.”
In both soccer and softball, Horton hopes to continue to improve at her position. She also wants to see more girls try out for the teams and hopes that both teams get along well, things that she noted can sometimes be an issue in high school sports.
Beyond those goals, Horton is also happy to be having a senior soccer season, as it will give her one more chance to play a sport on a team that’s been important to her life.
“It’s really important to me,” she said. “I’ve been playing on the team since I was a freshman. Overall, soccer has been a great thing in my life. I’ve gotten to meet a lot of people and get to meet people and do things I love the most. Overall, I’m excited about at least having a senior season with everything that’s going on.”
