Mavs and Jacks attend girls soccer camp at EWU

COLUMBIA BASIN — The Moses Lake Mavericks and the Quincy Jackrabbits girls' soccer teams attended a training camp at Eastern Washington University from July 23-25 where they played against teams from all around Eastern Washington at different levels.  

“The girls had a good time,” said Mavs head coach Alysha Overland. “It’s a good way to bring a group of girls together right before we get to season.” 

Jacks head coach Jesse Villalobos said the camp gave the soccer players the chance to earn some new exposure and gain experience on a college campus. 

The two Basin teams were joined by Naches Valley, Olympia, Wenatchee, Chelan, Davenport, Richland, Moscow, Port Townsend and Prosser high schools. The coaches said the teams featured players from upcoming freshmen to upcoming seniors. 

The first day of the camp was spent on a campus tour of EWU and the second day was a tour of the athletics departments. The camp also split activities throughout the day, with morning sessions devoted to training with the EWU coaching staff. 

“That’s a great way for the girls to get drills from other points of view,” said Overland. 

The coaches highlighted the afternoon sessions, which were spent with the teams facing one another in scrimmages with team bonding and team building activities set in between. Over the three-day camp, both Mavs and Jacks earned a good number of wins. The Jacks finished the camp taking zero losses.  

“We had a good amount of wins, we had some losses, we learned a lot,” said Overland. “Especially bringing a new group into something like that, watching them mesh from the first day to the last day was awesome to see. They really came together and pulled through all the way.” 

Villalobos said one of the big components that they went into the camp wanting to do was to build team chemistry and allow the girls to commit to having a good season. 

“I think a big takeaway was they were able to bond and get to know each other a little more,” he said. “And everything was centralized around soccer, so they were able to just talk soccer, be about soccer and talk about the upcoming season and reflect on last season as well.” 

Overland said along with freshmen players bonding with the older players on the team, the camp also provided a good opportunity for the coaches to get to know the newer players more prior to the start of the season.  

“I think it helps build our chemistry up when we do things like this,” she said. “Especially when it’s overnight and everyone’s bonding over what the dorm beds are feeling like or something small like that. To carry those memories on and give them something to talk about going into the season is big for the chemistry aspect.” 

The camp allowed players to work together and better prepare themselves prior to the start of the first fall practices, said the coaches. The scrimmages not only allowed for teams to play at different levels of competition but also gave players the opportunity to play against teams they are set to face during the regular season. 

“I realized there were three teams that are on our schedule this year that also attended the camp; that was Chelan, Prosser and Wenatchee,” said Villalobos. “Obviously, Wenatchee is always formidable, they’re a bigger school and they have a lot of good players, and it was fun to watch them too and the way they play the game.” 

As the teams approach their first fall practices, Overland said she hopes that the players gained some good takeaways from the training sessions at the camp and can apply what they learned at the camp into their upcoming season. 

“Overall, I’m just happy that Eastern still provides those kinds of camps for the soccer team because they’re pretty few and far between these days for an overnight camp like that,” said Overland. “Just grateful that they keep doing it and that it gives the girls something to look forward to each season.” 

Villalobos said the Jacks players are already excited for next year’s camp, with players coming up with their own ideas for what they can do next time. He also gave thanks to the Quincy booster clubs for playing a major role in getting the girls soccer team to attend the camp. 

“I really appreciate their help for it and we’re just trying to move the program forward and get bigger and better,” said Villalobos. “We’re 2A now, so we’ve got to start doing a lot more offseason things to be able to compete.” 

    Players from the Moses Lake Mavericks girls soccer team stand together during the Eastern Washington University training camp. This was the team’s second year attending the camp and coach Alysha Overland said that it has been very beneficial for building the players’ abilities.
  

    Players from the Quincy Jackrabbits girls soccer team line up on the field for a team photo. This was the Jacks’ first year attending the camp and coach Jesse Villalobos said the players are already excited coming up with plans for next year.
  

    Mavericks players sit around in a circle on the EWU campus with other teams at the camp doing the same. In between scrimmage matches the girls would also participate in team bonding exercises.
  

    The Lady Jacks soccer team sits by the sign for EWU. During the training camp, teams were given tours of both the school campus and the athletics department.
  

    The Mavs girls soccer team sits around the bench on the sideline during the EWU training camp. The camp featured training sessions from soccer coaches from EWU and scrimmages against schools from a variety of levels.
  

    The Lady Jacks soccer team gathers around in the locker room at EWU. Jacks coach Jesse Villalobos said the team earned four wins, two ties and no losses during the training camp scrimmages despite some of the injuries on the team.