By Nate Sanchez
Senior Columnist
Soccer is not the first sport that comes to mind when I think of American athletics. Regardless, we’ve got it at CSUB. The sport is among the fastest growing in the United States, and here’s why you should care about the Roadrunners this year.
1. You already kinda like soccer.
We’re coming off of a World Cup this year, and there’s a good chance you bought into it with the chants and the face paint and general debauchery that comes with being a crazed sports fanatic.
There’s also a good chance you started an office pool, filled out a bracket, tuned into at least two or three games on TV or pulled out your ball from the garage to kick around with your friends.
If you haven’t hopped off the bandwagon yet, I’d advise staying on. If you’re off the aforementioned badwagon (or you never got on in the first place), there’s never been a better time to join. Why?
2. The Roadrunners are different from the top down.
Both coaches from last year are gone. Former women’s coach Melissa Phillips resigned. Former Athletic Director Jeff Konya said it was “probably sudden” (what the heck does that even mean?). Former men’s coach Simon Tobin took his talents to San Jose, a move that will forever confuse me. Who chooses San Jose over Bakersfield? FORGET THE BEAUTIFUL WEATHER, BAKERSFIELD HAS GRIT, LIKE COWBOYS.
New coaches means new styles of play. A new Athletic Director means a higher level of commitment to watching these sports grow. Gary Curneen and Richie Grant have taken over the women’s and men’s teams respectively.
3. The men’s team looks like a winner.
The Roadrunner men’s soccer team is really good. Last year was their first in conference play, they placed second in the standings and survived a round of the Western Athletic Conference Tournament.
Five seniors, four juniors, five sophomores and seven freshmen make up this year’s team. They’ve got seasoned veterans, promising newcomers and a middle classes to insure the Runners won’t need to “rebuild” for a while. This team is built to sustain success for at least a few more years.
The Runners are already off to a 3-0 start on the year, and have scored as many as five goals against a single opponent. Look for a great year out of freshman Julian Zamora from Golden Valley High School here in town. He’s got four goals already.
Students get into games for free with their student ID and parking no longer costs money, so that’s positive too. It’s gonna be a good year to be a fan of Roadrunner soccer. I’m expecting big things.
