The Amherst seniors of the girls soccer team value determination, friendship, and passion and that is going to make for a great final season.

Jen Omernick, Ella Miller, Kaelynn Kazda, and Siri Anderson comprise the senior contingent of the team.

They all play in different positions and have in fact very different experiences with playing soccer.

Ella Miller is a goalie but also plays as forward. The job of goalie is one of the toughest and most challenging positions one can play in soccer. Miller thinks that the pressure and responsibility that comes with the position of having to make a save is really the hardest part of it.

On the other side, the feeling of relief after a save makes her love the position.

Miller has suffered an injury in the past, but this year she came back with no fear; she thinks injuries happen, it’s all a part of the game. For her, setting goals to come back was the best way for her to recover. Her positive attitude makes her shine, she always looks at the bright side of things so she’s a really good person to rely on when the players are having problems with their skills.

Miller loves being on the team and has a lot of memorable memories from it: “I have loved all of the ups and downs. I think the biggest one would be meeting a bunch of new people from our school and Iola during my sophomore year,” she said. In fact, the soccer team is not only made of Amherst kids, but Iola’s too.

For Jen Omernik, her best memory of varsity soccer is playing and practicing soccer with her older sister who helped show her the ropes and looked out for her.

Omernik is a defender and works really hard to make the team succeed; she knows that her position requires a lot of attention and strength and sometimes that can be scary as the last line of defense before the goalkeeper. “It is scary, especially at the beginning of the season, to know that if a player from the other team gets the ball behind you, it is just them, the goalkeeper, and the goal,” Omernik said. 

But with Omernik on the field, the soccer ball has a hard time getting behind her; in fact, her determination, her perseverance, and hustle is evident in her play as a soccer player. Having that drive to keep sprinting for the soccer ball is something that is hard to do when tired from the game, but she does it every time without hesitation. ”Running to the soccer ball has saved me trouble in a lot of situations,” she said. 

Running speed is key to playing as a wing in soccer. This position is Siri Anderson’s favorite, it just clicks in her head and she feels like she knows what she’s doing.

Siri loves playing soccer, but for her the best part is the team dynamic and the sense of family that is built during the course of the season.

With this being her last season, her advice for new members of the team who wish to stand out is to work hard during the off season. “Practice your ball skills, do shooting drills, even a little big of juggling can go a long way,” Anderson said. 

These girls made huge progress since their freshman year and all of that was possible only because of the lessons they learned during the games, practices, and through injuries, teammates and coaches; they are a great example of how all of these factors affect confidence and ultimately make for better players while building character.