GCEA has been around since 2008. Originally, it was going to exist for only a year, but a current CHS alumnus, Josh Fendrick, revived the team during his junior year of high school. “My sister, who was a senior, had some friends on the original team, so I played a few games with them my sophmore year. It was real fun, so I decided to take charge and start it up my junior year,” said Fendrick. “The old team graduated nearly everybody, so no one was around to restart it. I decided to take charge and organize the new team.”
The premise for the team is simple. Each player is assigned a jersey number, and the name of the corresponding Pokémon is written on the back of the jersey. CHS senior Murphy Austin, GCEA co-captain, said, “Sometimes, when you sub people out, you can say stuff like ‘Squirtle! I choose you!’ And then they go down the field and it’s super cool. And if we’re losing we usually sing the Pokemon theme song to pep us up.” Gillian Teall, a CHS senior and returning player, says that the players even pretend to be Pokémon during the games. “When we’re winning or losing by a lot, we start messing around on the field and pretend to be our designated Pokémon,” she said.
Shadi Ahmadmehrabi, the head coach, is usually seen in the bleachers cheering the team on. She joined the team as a cheerleader last year. “I work on Sundays, so I knew I couldn’t be at all the games, but I wanted a reason to show up to see them if I wanted to,” Ahmadmehrabi said. “Also, I wanted to be involved with the team, but I have this condition where I’m not good at soccer.”
Ahmadmehrabi hypes up the team by “yelling…yelling, trash talking the other team, and telling people how much fun everything is…occasionally, I just say words.” She also makes extravagant posters to cheer the team on. “My motto regarding posters, and really most of life, is ‘extravagance’. So my posters have gold letters, curly silver ribbons, and lots of other things. There is stuff everywhere on a signature Shadi poster.”
On Sunday, November 6th, GCEA redeemed their 15-1 season opening loss by demolishing P$C of Saline 6-3, with a second half shutout and a dynamic offense led by Bulbasaur (Casey MacDonald). Austin believes that their victory is indicative of their future performances, despite their blowout loss in the opener. “A lot of the more experienced players didn’t come to the first game,” he said. “There were a lot of people that have never played soccer before. But I think it’s looking up for the rest of the season.”The inconsistencies between the two games may also be due to the wide range of skill levels in the league. “Technically we’re in the recreational league, which means that everyone should not be that great. Which is kinda true, but some teams are horrible and some teams are pretty good,” Austin said. Since the league is less competitive, it allows opportunities that aren’t available in other leagues. “It’s much more fun… and you get some people who have never played before.”
