The562’s coverage of Jordan Athletics is sponsored by former LBUSD superintendent Chris Steinhauser.
The Jordan girls’ soccer program is in search of stability, and hopes the 2024-25 season will help get them one step closer.
Now in his second full season as head coach, Matthew Shawver is looking to lead another young team through adversity, relying on some key returners to coach up a large crop of young players.
“We have some key returners that came back, but just like last year, it’s a real inexperienced and really young team, except for a handful of seniors,” Sahwver explained. “We have a couple juniors that are going to play a part, but mainly sophomores and freshmen are gonna have to step up this year again.”
Shawver said he’s gotten a couple club soccer players on the roster for the first time, and is excited about having a freshman team to compete during Moore League play. Those steps are necessary in elevating the program, which has struggled without having a practice field of its own for a few years.
The team takes a bus to either Molina Park or all the way to McBride High School to access a practice field, but he’s admired their positive attitude in handling that daily inconvenience.
“They find their ways to make it work,” Shawver said. “It’s definitely a good bunch of girls, good-spirited, and they have a lot of fun together, so that definitely makes it work.”
Junior Valerie Mejia will be one of the top playmakers for the Panthers this season, splitting time between forward and midfield as she helps spur the offense. She reflected the positive attitude the team is taking going into the new season, despite spending every day on a bus to practice.
“It could be a little difficult, but at the end of the day, we have what we have,” Mejia said. “So we’re just gonna give it our all and just have fun.”
Fellow junior Julie Basto is back in the lineup as well, and she’ll play a similar role between midfield and forward. Add in senior Valerie Madrid at center back, and that makes up an experienced trio of upperclassmen for J-Town to rely on. Leana Saneza is making the move from left back to play goalkeeper for the Panthers.
Beyond that, there’s a lot of youth and inexperience, but with more talent, it seems. Several players will have the opportunity to make their names known as they adjust to the varsity level in the Moore League. Shawver expects freshmen Miranda Vidal and Uhitzayli Hernandez to be impact players in the midfield and Anabel Guevara is a youngster set to start at right back.
“We’re still really young, so it’s going to be who’s going to be able to step up and hang with the physicality and the speed,” Shawver said. “We’re real freshman and sophomore heavy, but I do feel like we have more support pieces for Julie and Valerie and them to kind of work with than we did last year.”
Mejia said she’s encouraged by what she’s seen from the youngsters on the squad and is optimistic for better outcomes in the season ahead.
“This year we have a lot of freshmen coming in, and honestly they’re really good,” Mejia said. “I just really hope that this year could be our year.”
The Panthers have a challenging start to Moore League play before winter break, taking on Millikan and Long Beach Poly on Dec. 10 and 12, respectively. They’ll then hit the road to take on Compton (Dec. 17) and host Wilson (Dec. 19) to close out the calendar year.
