For the past five months, students at Community High School have been waiting for the return of Community’s sole co-ed soccer team, Gotta Catch ‘Em All!
“I’m so excited,” said CHS senior Gil Eisbruch. “Playing on Gotta Catch ‘Em All! is way more fun than any other soccer team I’ve ever played on.”
Starting late October, the reloaded soccer team will be tackling co-ed teams from other high schools every Sunday morning and will be eating hearty team breakfasts, a continuation of the tradition held in years past.
Some players, like CHS junior and newcomer to the team Gillian Teall, are more excited for the breakfasts than the games.
“I’m looking forward to the breakfasts because I’m not very coordinated [while playing soccer],” said Teall.
Gotta Catch ‘Em All! unites sophomores, juniors, and seniors who all strive for a common goal: first place. Last year, Gotta Catch ‘Em All! finished with a 5-3 record, good enough for third place in the division. Newcomers Teall, Clare Lauer, Leif Gearhart-Hall, Eliza Stein, Keely O’Donnell, and Aaron Nelson-Purcell will help assist a team that returns twelve players. This year’s team looks promising, and has a division championship in their sights.
Even though there is a strong emphasis on success for the Pokemon themed soccer team, there is a greater focus on team camaraderie and fun.
“I like it because you don’t have to run as much and you can kick it off the wall and go past the guy and make him look like a fool,” said Eisbruch. “And I like it that we all laugh at each other.”
New players, like O’Donnell, are looking forward to playing on such a tight knit team.
“The team aspect is the main reason I play sports in general because it’s fun to be part of a team, and Pokemon seems like a really fun team in general,” said O’Donnell.
The signature trademark of Gotta Catch ‘Em All! is each player on the team chooses the Pokemon they think best represents themselves or their soccer abilities, or just any Pokemon that they love.
“Well, I really wanted to be Psyduck because then if I did something bad I could fall on the floor and be like, ‘I have a headache!’, but apparently I couldn’t be Psyduck,” said Eisbruch. “So then I was like, ‘Well who is the next best person? Oh Weezing can explode when he does something bad,’ so Weezing,” explained Eisbruch.
Teall recently discovered her old Pokemon card collection which inspired her choice.
“I was looking through my old Pokemon cards, and I came across Diglett and Dugtrio and I was like, ‘Well those seem like cool guys,’ and I talked to Annie Flynn about it and she was like, ‘you should choose Dugtrio!’ but I chose Diglett because I am not three people,” said Teall.
Some players have much simpler reasons for their Pokemon selections, like CHS senior Kendall Phillips.
“I wanted to be Oddish because it has the word ‘odd’ in it,” said Phillips.
Other students like O’Donnell needed help with their decision.
“I never played with Pokemon as a kid or anything, so I really don’t know any of them,” said O’Donnell. “[I chose Grimer because] he’s a pile of goo and nothing beats that.”
Combining both the recreational and competitive elements of indoor soccer with the positive attitudes of CHS students makes for a fun Sunday morning experience. After months of waiting, on Sunday, October 31st, every member of Gotta Catch ‘Em All! will hit the soccer field, ready for the new season.
