Sophomore Eduardo Ventura is back after suffering a season-ending injury last year, and he is prepared to take action. Last year, Ventura started off as a Junior Varsity player for the boys soccer team but was forced to quit earlier than expected.
Despite this setback, Ventura decided to continue playing after he had recovered and is now playing as a starting center back on the Varsity team.
“I feel like all the work I’ve been putting in after my recovery is paying off,” Ventura said. “I feel like I’m actually able to show what I’m able to do. I'm just [going] to have to fight for that spot.”
One thing that Ventura hopes to accomplish this year is to end the season with a better record than he had the previous year, and he hopes that as a team they’ll come together and win sectionals.
Ventura has also been playing since he was much younger; he accredited his interest in soccer to one of his uncles and his father.
“I would say that I’ve grown up playing the sport with my family but, really, it was my dad and one of my uncles that really pushed me to start playing for the [Stonybrook] Middle School team and get better,” Ventura said
But later on during the eighth grade he decided to continue playing at a more competitive level. While moving from the Junior Varsity team to the Varsity team isn’t a small accomplishment his coach says he has been handling himself in a good way.
“He’s still only a sophomore now [so] he’s got a lot of time to continue to grow and [while the] jump from JV to Varsity is a difficult one especially when you are playing against some of the best Junior and Senior strikers in the state.”