by Grady Lapczynski
It’s official, soccer will be a sport at New Prairie.
Previously soccer has been a club because there was not enough funding, but now the sport is starting to be more relevant to the school.
“I was thrilled, but I was disappointed because it didn’t happen sooner,” said team captain Maleny Mireles. “I’m excited to see how far the girls will go in the next few years.”
Mireles has played soccer for twelve years. She has the experience to lead this team as a senior and plays on a daily basis.
They play all over Northern Indiana and even up in Michigan sometimes, but due to a new rule by the MHSAA (Michigan High School Athletic Association), teams in Michigan are ineligible to play Indiana teams in the offseason.
“I plan to instill a confidence, on and off the field, in the younger and newer players” said Mireles. “I’m pushing for more of an acknowledgment of our hard work and for our peers at the school to take the sport as seriously as we do.”
Mireles and her teammates believe soccer is more serious than a club and that is why they are all thrilled for it to be an official sport in the NIC.
Mireles transferred from St. Joe where soccer has always been taken seriously, so her goal for the time she was here was to spread her passion for soccer and make it more noticeable than ever before.
She plans to take her talents down the road to Saint Mary’s Notre Dame, where she has been offered a position to play for their soccer team.
Starting in 2022, the soccer team will get an official field and by 2024 they will be a member of the IHSAA (Indiana High School Athletic Association).
They are coached by Kasey Doorn, who has coached for twelve years.
Doorn is very excited to have soccer back as an official sport and not a club.
“Funding was a big part of it not being a sport,” said Doorn.
Doorn plans to apply to coach the girls for the 2019-2020 season.