Excitable Tesmond guards Neuqua V. line
By Matt Le Cren
Tara Tesmond thinks all goalkeepers are out of the ordinary.
Quite a few people will agree with the Neuqua Valley junior that it takes a certain kind of individual to want to play soccer’s most difficult position.
Tesmond is one of those people, perfectly comfortable with living on the edge while chaos swirls around her.
“I love being a goalkeeper,” Tesmond said. “You just have the opportunity to change the game.
“There are some games you’re not going to touch the ball at all. There are other games where you dictate the way the game goes.
“You need somebody that’s crazy to play that position.”
Tesmond admits she is, though only on the soccer field. The Indiana State recruit is among the best goalkeepers in the state, though few people outside the sport know that.
“I keep my soccer life kind of separate from everything else in my life, so it’s not something I talk about a lot to my regular friends who don’t play soccer,” Tesmond said. “I keep it to myself.
“I’m a completely different person when I’m on the field. I’m different to who you’re talking to right now.
“I’m crazy when I go out there. I will do whatever I can (to win).”Neuqua Valley coach Joe Moreau said that Tesmond is a goofy kid off the field, with a sunny personality that meshes well with others.
In conversation, Tesmond’s passion and enthusiasm are evident, washing over the listener like a warm wave at a Florida beach. Her competitive fire burns bright.
“If you had just talked to me now, you’d be like, ‘Oh, yeah, she’s a pretty normal girl,’” Tesmond said. “But when I go out there, I will scream at people. I will make sure that they know how to fix things.”
Tesmond had been doing that long before she made her varsity debut last season. She’s been between the pipes ever since she first started playing a decade ago.
“I was with Chicago Fire Juniors when I was in first or second grade,” Tesmond recalled. “At that age you don’t really have a designated goalkeeper yet.
“People are playing for fun and you will rotate positions. I started as a field player and then it was my turn in the rotation to go in the goal.”
Needless to say, things went quite well.
“It was my first time playing in goal,” Tesmond said. “It was a rainy day, and it was really hard, and I was just a little girl. I actually ended up doing really well.
“Everyone was cheering for me, and I was making little saves. They weren’t amazing saves, but I was doing it, and I was enjoying it.”
Much earlier than most kids, Tesmond had experienced her “aha” moment.
“I felt I had found my position,” Tesmond said. “When you’re little, you play everywhere. It doesn’t really matter.
“But when I was in goal, I was like, ‘This feels like what I’m supposed to be doing in this sport.’”
Tesmond comes from a sports family. One brother, Tyler, just finished his baseball career at Eastern Illinois, and another, Trevor, will be a junior defensive back at NCAA Division III national champion North Central College.
But Tesmond heard another call. It was to defend the net, and she does it well.
“She’s a very strong kid,” Moreau said. “She reads the game really well and is really good with her feet as well.
“Nowadays you need goalkeepers that are strong with their feet. She hits the ball pretty well.”
Yet no matter how good Tesmond becomes, she is never satisfied. The Wildcats won 11 games last year but after they lost 1-0 to Naperville Central in the regional final, Tesmond said she needed to get better.
“She is probably her biggest critic,” Moreau said. “She’s hard on herself, and so she wants to get better. But she did improve (last year).”
Tesmond does that thanks to a fanatical attention to fundamentals. No detail is too small to escape her notice, or her work ethic.
“I think what makes me a good goalkeeper is that I’ve always been very invested in the technical stuff,” Tesmond said. “In training, I always do my best to try to hold every (ball).
“Some coaches will tell you to tip (high balls), but I try to hold everything, try to have the best form, the best footwork that I can.
“I love doing footwork. That’s one of my favorites, and I think that correlates a lot into how I play because I am only 5-foot-6.
“So sometimes the higher balls are hard to get but if you have good, fast feet and good footwork, you can cover so much more area of the goal.”
Tesmond’s preparation is not limited to drills. She remembers watching, over and over, YouTube videos of Hope Solo’s incredible saves during the 2011 and 2015 World Cups.
“I love watching soccer,” Tesmond said. “Soccer is such a beautiful game.
“I would watch it even if I didn’t play soccer, because it’s a great game to watch. I’ve always been interested in the goalkeepers, because they can make or break the game.”
Moreau, of course, is happy to see his team win games without having to rely on his goalkeeper, but he finds comfort in knowing Tesmond is on the line.
Tesmond, though, prefers the close games. The more action she gets, the better, regardless of what it does to Moreau’s remaining hair follicles.
“As a goalkeeper, I live for games like that -- games where you have to carry your team,” Tesmond said gleefully. “I don’t know why, but I like when there is a lot of pressure on me because I feel like my team is counting on me, and I definitely have the opportunity to make an impact in every game that I play in.
“I will take a game like that over a game my team wins 20-0, and I don’t touch the ball at all.”
Goalkeeping can be a lonely pursuit at times, with long stretches of inaction. But the spotlight can be harsh since only goalkeepers are credited with wins or losses, a reality that leads either to glory or goathood.
Tesmond, though, never walks alone.
“My relationship with my teammates is so important to me,” Tesmond said. “You can have relationships with your teammates and make lasting memories.
“That’s what you’re going to remember in the next 20 years. You’re going to remember who you competed with, the memories you have.
“I’ve always been very close with the teammates of whatever team I’ve been on, and I’ve made really good relationships with them. Because I think that’s important as a goalkeeper to do, so they can trust you.”
Through it all - win, lose or draw – Tesmond never fails to be the life of the party.
“I really like to make people laugh,” Tesmond said. “When I’m at soccer, that’s when I’m genuinely happy.
“That’s my happy place, so when I’m there I’ll be smiling, laughing and making jokes with people. But when things need to be serious, then I will be serious. I don’t like to be serious but when I have to be, I am.”
By Matt Le Cren
Tara Tesmond thinks all goalkeepers are out of the ordinary.
Quite a few people will agree with the Neuqua Valley junior that it takes a certain kind of individual to want to play soccer’s most difficult position.
Tesmond is one of those people, perfectly comfortable with living on the edge while chaos swirls around her.
“I love being a goalkeeper,” Tesmond said. “You just have the opportunity to change the game.
“There are some games you’re not going to touch the ball at all. There are other games where you dictate the way the game goes.
“You need somebody that’s crazy to play that position.”
Tesmond admits she is, though only on the soccer field. The Indiana State recruit is among the best goalkeepers in the state, though few people outside the sport know that.
“I keep my soccer life kind of separate from everything else in my life, so it’s not something I talk about a lot to my regular friends who don’t play soccer,” Tesmond said. “I keep it to myself.
“I’m a completely different person when I’m on the field. I’m different to who you’re talking to right now.
“I’m crazy when I go out there. I will do whatever I can (to win).”Neuqua Valley coach Joe Moreau said that Tesmond is a goofy kid off the field, with a sunny personality that meshes well with others.
In conversation, Tesmond’s passion and enthusiasm are evident, washing over the listener like a warm wave at a Florida beach. Her competitive fire burns bright.
“If you had just talked to me now, you’d be like, ‘Oh, yeah, she’s a pretty normal girl,’” Tesmond said. “But when I go out there, I will scream at people. I will make sure that they know how to fix things.”
Tesmond had been doing that long before she made her varsity debut last season. She’s been between the pipes ever since she first started playing a decade ago.
“I was with Chicago Fire Juniors when I was in first or second grade,” Tesmond recalled. “At that age you don’t really have a designated goalkeeper yet.
“People are playing for fun and you will rotate positions. I started as a field player and then it was my turn in the rotation to go in the goal.”
Needless to say, things went quite well.
“It was my first time playing in goal,” Tesmond said. “It was a rainy day, and it was really hard, and I was just a little girl. I actually ended up doing really well.
“Everyone was cheering for me, and I was making little saves. They weren’t amazing saves, but I was doing it, and I was enjoying it.”
Much earlier than most kids, Tesmond had experienced her “aha” moment.
“I felt I had found my position,” Tesmond said. “When you’re little, you play everywhere. It doesn’t really matter.
“But when I was in goal, I was like, ‘This feels like what I’m supposed to be doing in this sport.’”
Tesmond comes from a sports family. One brother, Tyler, just finished his baseball career at Eastern Illinois, and another, Trevor, will be a junior defensive back at NCAA Division III national champion North Central College.
But Tesmond heard another call. It was to defend the net, and she does it well.
“She’s a very strong kid,” Moreau said. “She reads the game really well and is really good with her feet as well.
“Nowadays you need goalkeepers that are strong with their feet. She hits the ball pretty well.”
Yet no matter how good Tesmond becomes, she is never satisfied. The Wildcats won 11 games last year but after they lost 1-0 to Naperville Central in the regional final, Tesmond said she needed to get better.
“She is probably her biggest critic,” Moreau said. “She’s hard on herself, and so she wants to get better. But she did improve (last year).”
Tesmond does that thanks to a fanatical attention to fundamentals. No detail is too small to escape her notice, or her work ethic.
“I think what makes me a good goalkeeper is that I’ve always been very invested in the technical stuff,” Tesmond said. “In training, I always do my best to try to hold every (ball).
“Some coaches will tell you to tip (high balls), but I try to hold everything, try to have the best form, the best footwork that I can.
“I love doing footwork. That’s one of my favorites, and I think that correlates a lot into how I play because I am only 5-foot-6.
“So sometimes the higher balls are hard to get but if you have good, fast feet and good footwork, you can cover so much more area of the goal.”
Tesmond’s preparation is not limited to drills. She remembers watching, over and over, YouTube videos of Hope Solo’s incredible saves during the 2011 and 2015 World Cups.
“I love watching soccer,” Tesmond said. “Soccer is such a beautiful game.
“I would watch it even if I didn’t play soccer, because it’s a great game to watch. I’ve always been interested in the goalkeepers, because they can make or break the game.”
Moreau, of course, is happy to see his team win games without having to rely on his goalkeeper, but he finds comfort in knowing Tesmond is on the line.
Tesmond, though, prefers the close games. The more action she gets, the better, regardless of what it does to Moreau’s remaining hair follicles.
“As a goalkeeper, I live for games like that -- games where you have to carry your team,” Tesmond said gleefully. “I don’t know why, but I like when there is a lot of pressure on me because I feel like my team is counting on me, and I definitely have the opportunity to make an impact in every game that I play in.
“I will take a game like that over a game my team wins 20-0, and I don’t touch the ball at all.”
Goalkeeping can be a lonely pursuit at times, with long stretches of inaction. But the spotlight can be harsh since only goalkeepers are credited with wins or losses, a reality that leads either to glory or goathood.
Tesmond, though, never walks alone.
“My relationship with my teammates is so important to me,” Tesmond said. “You can have relationships with your teammates and make lasting memories.
“That’s what you’re going to remember in the next 20 years. You’re going to remember who you competed with, the memories you have.
“I’ve always been very close with the teammates of whatever team I’ve been on, and I’ve made really good relationships with them. Because I think that’s important as a goalkeeper to do, so they can trust you.”
Through it all - win, lose or draw – Tesmond never fails to be the life of the party.
“I really like to make people laugh,” Tesmond said. “When I’m at soccer, that’s when I’m genuinely happy.
“That’s my happy place, so when I’m there I’ll be smiling, laughing and making jokes with people. But when things need to be serious, then I will be serious. I don’t like to be serious but when I have to be, I am.”