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09/30/2021 12:00 AMSophia Surber is bringing her vast soccer experience to the Valley Regional girls’ soccer squad as one of team’s three senior captains this year. Sophia plays soccer with the Oakwood Soccer Club out of Glastonbury when she’s not taking the field for the Warriors, and she’s hoping that her soccer skills can help propel Valley to a Shoreline Conference title in 2021.
Sophia believes the Warriors have some unfinished business to take care of this season. The Warriors had an impressive run during her sophomore year, but last year was cut short right before they were supposed to head into the postseason.
“My sophomore year was pretty memorable. We made it to Shoreline finals that year. We were successful as a team, and we were all really close,” Sophia says. “After losing in the finals that year, it was a big motivating factor for us. After we shut down last season, our main goal is to get back to the Shoreline finals. It’s something the whole team is looking forward to doing this year.”
Sophia believes that the Warriors are working out the kinks a bit, but overall the team has looked engaged and ready to compete. Valley currently sports a 2-2 record on the year.
“I think that so far we’ve been doing pretty well. There are a few things we need to work out in our games really,” says Sophia. “We have a pretty good chance of going far if we communicate and work hard. I think the team is really excited for the rest of the season.”
Sophia knows that high school soccer is a bit of a different beast than playing with the Oakwood Soccer Club. Everyone playing for Oakwood lives and breathes soccer, while those playing at the high school level may be more dedicated to a spring or winter sport. Sophia believes that playing soccer with Oakwood has helped her come a long way as a player.
“I basically play all year round. With Oakwood, I go from November to late June usually. We play indoor in December, January, and February, and then we start to get outside. We have a league that we play in the spring, and the winter is usually just practices,” says Sophia, who lives in Deep River. “I think it’s really helped me a lot. It’s a higher level than high school is. It helps me prepare for the high school season. It’s really helped me as a player ever since I started when I was really young. I started playing locally and with the Valley Soccer Club when I was 4 or 5, and I started Oakwood when I was 9.”
Sophia has mostly patrolled the midfield throughout her soccer career, and she has been more of a defensively minded distributor. Lately though, Sophia has been getting even more involved in the offense since the team is looking to get on the board early in games.
“I play center mid. I used to play more of an outside mid, but over the years, I’ve moved into the middle. I play center mid at Valley and for Oakwood,” Sophia says. “In the past, I didn’t score many goals. I had a few, but I liked setting up the girls on the team. I also take a lot of the corner and free kicks. I usually play more of a defensive role because I was always the one putting the ball through and giving opportunities to the other girls on the team. I’ve been playing more of an attacking role in the middle lately, because we’re looking to get some shots on goal early so we can get an advantage early.”
Sophia has seen a familiar face in the midfield over the past two seasons in her younger sister Emilee Surber, who is a sophomore. The two Surbers didn’t have a lot of in-game experience playing together until coming to Valley because of their age difference. Sophia has enjoyed seeing her sister’s play evolve.
“We’re not on the same team at Oakwood because of age. It’s been fun playing with her in high school. She played more of an outside role originally, too, and she’s starting to move inside and playing closer to me, so that’s been fun,” says Sophia. “She usually plays an attacking center mid, so she’s usually a little more in front of me. She started Oakwood a little bit after me. I think once I started, it really motivated her to play that level, as well.”
Sophia has also taken on a bigger leadership role this season as one of the Warriors’ senior captains. Sophia, Taryn Frazier, and Caroline Hutchinson have been doing all they can to bring the team together and foster effective communication between their teammates. That has been a major point of emphasis between the captains and Head Coach Lauren MacDonald.
“I think one big thing about our team this year is our team bonding. Coach has really emphasized that in the past. We have organized lots of team building exercises. The team bonding has really helped the communication on the field and our chemistry with each other. I think it’s an important piece that often gets overlooked,” says Sophia. “We had really good captains in the past. I always really looked up to them as an underclassman. Watching how they integrated their leadership skills has really helped me so far.”
Coach MacDonald has been impressed with Sophia’s dedication to soccer. Coach MacDonald believes that the team can see what it takes to be a successful player because of the example that Sophia sets. MacDonald also appreciates how talented Sophia is with the ball at her feet.
“Sophia has stepped into the role of team captain this year, and she has done a tremendous job. On top of being a great team leader, she is also a wonderful soccer player. She is one of the most technically skilled players on the field and is dangerous with every free kick and corner she takes,” says MacDonald. “Sophia’s ability to maintain possession under intense pressure and her ability to find the through balls for our wing players helps our team keep momentum. Sophia and her fellow seniors are the first group of girls I started with at Valley. They all hold a special place in my heart, and I can’t wait to get more games under our belt this season.”
Sophia made sure to keep her conditioning up during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Without a way to play any soccer, Sophia had to construct her own routine to keep up her fitness and prevent getting rusty. It helped having her sister to practice with. Now, Sophia just wants to see the Warriors reach postseason glory this year.
“During the early stages of COVID, we had no soccer at all as a team. I had a fitness plan that I worked out. I live close to Valley so I would go up to the track a few days a week. I would play in the yard with my sister, as well. We did a lot of Zoom calls with videos of us doing things in the yard with Oakwood,” Sophia says. “I just think that after COVID and everything that has happened, we’re really excited for the season with a good mindset to get back to Shoreline finals and finish what we started.”