The Palo Alto High School girls soccer team roster is expected to be finalized by the end of the week of Nov. 17.
Tryouts for both varsity and junior varsity started on Nov. 3 and were supposed to end on Friday, Nov. 14. However, tryouts were extended because many potential players were still participating in cross country and other fall sports. Because of this delay, uniforms will be passed out Thursday, Nov. 16, when potential players find out who made the varsity team.
Most of the upperclassmen and sophomores who will be on varsity have already been decided by coach Kurt Devlin. Returning players include senior Katie Foug and junior Jacey Pederson, who was entitled Player of the Year and the league most valuable player in March.
“This year, [the Varisty team is] really focused on going farther in CCS,” Pederson said. “We’ve gotten further and further every year since my freshman year, but this year I think we can win it all.”
Foug echoed Pederson’s hopes for the season. “We made it to the seminal last year, and we have a lot of string returning players, so our team chemistry will be great off the bat,” Foug said.
The potential freshmen on varsity will be decided soon.
Before Paly’s soccer season starts, most of the varsity players will finish with their club teams. In addition, many will go to the Surf Thanksgiving Tournament in San Diego over the upcoming break.
Once the varsity team has been formed, its first game will be a home non-conference game against Evergreen Valley on Wednesday, Dec. 3 at 5:45 p.m.
The junior varsity had cuts on Fridays Nov. 7 and Nov. 14, but its team has not been decided since some players may still get moved up to varsity. The end of tryouts is on Thursday Nov. 20 when uniforms are distributed, but most players who tried out are expected to make the team.
The preliminary roster came out the week of Nov. 10, but more people who are still in sports are trying out during the week of Nov. 17. The first junior varsity game will be on a Wednesday in December.
Though the official soccer season has not started yet, Paly girls soccer players are already making goals for the year.
“I think that as a team we’re all going to try and keep the training environment intense and focused, because in past years we’ve slacked off a little bit,” Pederson said. “If we can implement a serious training environment, we will benefit massively as a team.”
Others also expressed their appreciation for Paly’s soccer teams.
“We all bond throughout the season together, and looking back on my four years, I’ve made such good friendships that I may not have normally made if I wasn’t on the team,” Foug said.
