SMCC Women’s Soccer Working Towards Fall 2021 Return

PHOENIX --- 

The South Mountain Community College women's soccer team is not participating in the spring 2021 season. However, that does not mean the Cougars are not preparing for a return. Instead, they are hitting the books and the training ground to prepare for the fall 2021 campaign.

SMCC Head coach Nicole Acosta has remained committed to her student-athletes during the pandemic and the cancelation, using the time to grow and reflect as a coach 

"I'm so proud of the girls who are persevering through this experience," said Acosta. "It's not easy, and you have to be self-motivated daily. When we had to cancel the season, my message to the team was to stress the importance of now having more time to focus on our grades and continuing to keep that a priority." 

Acosta has weekly meetings with the Cougars, who are enrolled in a strength and conditioning course together this semester. While she is most excited to see, and in some cases meet, her student-athletes in person, she has remained committed to the process of rebuilding the program for the 2021 fall.

"I believe I have grown as a coach by finding different ways to recruit and learning to be creative while having to maintain a team virtually," she added. "I have already begun recruiting for 2021, and I am looking for hard-working players that are respectful."

Two student-athletes who have shown that perseverance Acosta described are freshmen Leala Garcia and Shay Mangisi. Both miss the competition and camaraderie of soccer, but both are also committed to returning this fall with tenacity.

Garcia is a 5-3 defender from San Tan Valley, Ariz., who prepped at Poston Butte High School. During her time at the school, she helped the squad make the playoffs and earned a Most Improved Player award from her team. She acknowledges this is the longest she has gone without playing the game. 

"I'm staying active by training on my own whenever I can, joining a strength class and talking with others who also play soccer," said Garcia. 

She stays in touch with her teammates and Coach Acosta through various apps and admits to missing in-person classes. She misses the interactions with her teammates, whether at practice, meals, the athletic training room, study hall, or any of the other myriad of activities student-athletes do together. 

"Because of COVID, I can't give any of them a hug, so I try and joke with them so that we all get a good laugh," she added.

Mangisi is a 5-5 defender from Flagstaff, Ariz., who prepped at Coconino High School. She was named a team captain as a senior, and the pandemic has kept her from playing soccer for the first time since her freshman year.

"I miss being competitive on the field," said Mangisi. "I have stayed active by running with my sister every day after work and occasionally going to the gym to lift. I am preparing for the fall 2021 season by staying in shape and keeping my mental game up. My goal is to make the season that I play with SMCC the best one yet."

She also misses in-person instruction but has adjusted well to her online classes. Like so many, it is the little things that Mangisi misses, and she is eager to get back to some semblance of normalcy.

"The first thing I'll do back on the pitch with my teammates is not taking any of this opportunity for granted," she said.

Under Acosta's leadership, the SMCC women's soccer program builds and prepares for the 2021 fall season. Even with the time off the pitch, Cougar student-athletes continue to receive scholarship offers and take recruiting visits, although NCAA compliance laws don't allow more than those general statements. 

The fall can't come soon enough for her and her squad.