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Written by Francesca Rivera   
Tuesday, 05 January 2010 21:15
Sophomore captain and defender Eric Skinkis explains his motivation and predictions for the current season.

1) Please introduce yourself and position. (Oh, and congratulations on making captain in your sophomore year!)

I am Eric Skinkis and I am currently the right defender and one of the three captains for boys Varsity soccer.

2) How long have you been playing soccer? What made you fall in love with the sport?

I have been playing soccer for around eleven years. It actually took me a while to fall in love with soccer, the beginning years of soccer in six and under and eight and under are not true soccer. They are just hordes of kids kicking wildly. I began to fall in with soccer when I was ten because that is when the true nature of the sport exposed itself to me. The barbarian tactics of younger divisions gave way to coordinated tactics and strategies and players grew more vicious, this combination of strategy, ingenuity, strength captivated me and has cause me to continue to love the game.

3) Do you feel that having underclassmen as captains on your team has an affect on the efficiency of the team?

The grade of a captain does not automatically decide how he or she will perform, if an underclassman comes out with determination and passion the fact that he or she is an underclassman falls away.

4) Last year, nearly half of your team consisted of seniors. Now, the team is mostly sophomores. Do you think that this will hurt the team in the long run?

Absolutely not, we only have two seniors on the roster for this year, this will allow much of the team to have two years (and most three) of bonding and growth that will create strong chemistry in the team, creating a more efficient unit.

5) How do you think that the team is going to do this season, in terms of playing other teams?

Our team has the ability to play against every team in our division and create opportunities to win.

6) With the practice and game schedule, do you think it would be more difficult to keep up in school?

It is definitely more difficult to be a high achieving student while playing a sport, especially at an academic school; it’s just a simple fact that a person only has so much energy before they crash. However, it is possible to earn good grades and still play a sport; it just requires more dedication and good time management out of the player.

7) Aside from just the literal goals and accomplishments that the team could achieve, how would you want your team to grow?

My biggest aspiration for our team is to have the members bond as a unit so that we are a close knit group on and off the field. This would create a more efficient team on the field, and off the field it would create a group that could always be depended on for help and support.

8) Being as rowdy and bonded as any other team, are there any personal and team rituals or superstitions?

There are not really any set rituals in the team simply because our conversations cover far too wide of a span of topics to be cemented as tradition. The closest thing we have to a tradition is that on the bus ride, we always end up having the whole team sing various songs. As for superstitions, I’d have to say JB and his Oreos are the only superstition on the team. He almost always has Oreos before a game.

9) Do you guys find time to actually bond out of practice and games? How are the bus rides to-and-from games?

We have not found time to bond as a whole team yet, although it is something we are looking into. Bus rides are our main source of bonding because many of the away games we have had have been hour plus drives and them games at six, giving us a lot of time to bond and mess around. The rides vary greatly in mood, sometimes the ride will be mellow, other days the whole ride will be filled with singing and jokes.

10) What are practices like after games you win/lose/tie? Or are they the same regardless of the outcome? The

actual outcome has very little to do with what can be expected the next day. What matters is how we played over all that determines what will occur, for example, we can win a game, but play terribly, and the next day will consist mostly of conditioning. If we lose a game but played the best we could, then the next day will still have conditioning, but there will be less, but conditioning is always assured.

11) What is one thing you want to say to get peers and people who've never gone to your games to go?

I don’t know why you have not gone to watch any of the games but you are certainly missing out, soccer has elements that will suit your personal preference whether it’s the finesse of a midfielder, a juke from a forward, or a hit from the defense, there never is a dull moment in a game of soccer. So come and support our team, support from the fans really can make a difference and alter the entire flow of a game.