Reavis’ Guzman, Garcia
plan for senior step
By Bill Stone
Reavis junior Isabel Guzman still is able to handle another lost girls soccer season with a smile.
She’s already managed to find positives from missing all of her 2019 season recovering from a torn ACL in her left knee.
“In the end I’m not glad it happened, but I’m glad at the same time. Now I know everything happens for a reason, and it’s making me a better player,” Guzman said.
“On the mental side, I think I’m a lot stronger. I think I appreciate the game way more. I think I see the game differently than when I was a freshman. I play the game like it’s my last game, because that’s my mentality every time I go on the field.”
Guzman and tri-captain Sandy Garcia are among the Rams juniors who were hoping to make a significant impact along with several key seniors and a solid lineup. They felt Reavis could make a run at only the second conference title in program history in the South Suburban Conference’s Red Division.
Guzman earned All-SSC honors in her freshman season. Garcia had the added hope of learning leadership as a first-year tri-captain from senior captains Alyssa Froylan and Cami Valdez.
“I was extremely shocked (to be named). For that to be granted to me as a junior, I was ecstatic. I know if my team needed me to lead I would do the best I could to put us in the best position,” Garcia said.
“Losing a lot of the seniors this year is going to take a toll on us. Seeing on how I can be a difference with the players we have gives me a lot of hope. Seeing how the girls this year responded to me, I think I can give hope to the younger girls.”
Staying hopeful this spring has been difficult, especially after the somewhat expected IHSA April announcement that cancelled the girls soccer state tournament.
There’s still a remote chance of action this summer. That’s part of the driving force for the seniors.
“I will miss practicing and bonding with my teammates. If the stay-at-home order is lifted, we plan on playing a couple of games during the summer,” responded Froylan, who is considering playing soccer at nearby Moraine Valley Community College.
“A tragic ending to a season that never happened. It’s still difficult to accept the fact our season is over. I will use this experience as fuel for next season.”
If anyone knows the anguish of preparing but still having to wait, it’s Guzman. She battled just to return playing with her Oak Brook soccer club by September, six months following surgery.
“I think everyone’s really disappointed right now. It’s pretty rough, especially for the seniors, but I think everyone is trying to have a positive mindset and working hard at the moment, thinking it’s going to happen. If it happens, we want to be the best that we can be at that moment,” Guzman said.
“Everyone is trying to go out and get their touches in, go on runs, be in shape if we go back. It’s impacted me. Working out every day, getting touches in for club, and for this to happen. (Sitting) took a toll on me last year, and I don’t want it to take a toll on me again. If we come back, great. If we don’t, I have to keep pushing myself if I want to keep playing at the next level.”
Garcia also brings an infectious work ethic. Second-year Reavis head coach Jeff Grider said she is consistently is among the first to arrive and last to leave at practice.
“I always try to show up early and get some touches and even get with some girls who show up early,” Garcia said. “I always try to stay, especially with the teammates I have. I stay a little later just to shoot around and make that bond a little stronger.”
Garcia’s dedication earned her that captain spot from the coaches.
Last season, Froylan earned all-sectional and Valdez was honorable mention all-sectional. This should have been their fourth varsity seasons.
“Adding a junior captain this year just shows the captain’s position isn’t only for seniors. It is open to all players that show their dedication and effort throughout the postseason,” Froylan responded.
“Sandra has developed as a player stepping up her game for this year’s season. She has put in the work during the offseason and has really shown it to our coaches. She communicates with everyone, making her voice be heard on and off the field.”
Guzman and Garcia have been through plenty since their first varsity days as freshmen. Their soccer bond goes back to their days to Liberty Middle School.
“We always push each other to be the best,” Guzman said. “(Garcia is) the cheerleader of our group. I remember preseason and the beginning, and we’ll have tough practices where we have to condition. She’ll be like, ‘Come on guys,’ lift everyone’s heads up. Conditioning isn’t easy, but she made it fun at the same time.”
Grider intended to use them in a revamped midfield lineup after both juniors initially made an impact as freshmen forwards.
Guzman was going to play attacking center midfield. Garcia was moving from center to outside midfield for the first time with the Rams.
“Now being on the outside, I can communicate with Isabel, because I’ve been with her since seventh grade. Just having that bond just strengthens us overall,” Garcia said.
“(Teammates) know they can trust me, because as soon as someone is not doing their job, I’m going to help them and let them know I’m there to help them all and to have trust in me.”
Guzman also expected to come back a much stronger player in 2020, thanks to more trust in herself physically and mentally.
Through rehabilitation for her knee, Guzman learned the benefits of better overall fitness. Weight training and pre-game stretching have become part of her regimen.
“I think I’m actually faster than I used to be because of physical therapy,” Guzman said.
“I would go out of every physical therapy tired and sore. Even though I was losing a lot of my (soccer) touches, I was still keeping in shape in a different way. Now I know that it’s important to try and get in half an hour of ACL prevention. Do your squats, jumping. Now going into games, I take stretches more seriously than I used to.”
Guzman began playing soccer at age 5 as one of the boys. She first gained game experience playing in Chicago leagues with her cousins.
“Playing with boys made me more the player I am, the toughness and the technical side that I need,” Guzman said. “You see more and more girls with the boys (now), and you get a different type of game. It’s faster and you have to be tough. It makes you a better player playing together with boys.”
At Liberty, Guzman also competed in cross country and volleyball but opted to focus on soccer at Reavis.
As a freshman, she was the Rams’ no. 3 scorer with eight goals and six assists and earned all-conference honors after moving from wing to forward.
“The older classmen took me under their wings and showed me to not be scared, to push myself,” Guzman said.
“What I enjoy about the soccer team is the team chemistry I build with other players. You make friends at school, but it’s not the same as soccer. They can end up being like your (since) little kid friends, the bond you make with your teammates, knowing they have your back no matter what.”
Even now, Guzman makes the lengthier drive to the Oak Brook soccer club because she likes the “professional environment” established by coach Chris Karabatsis after her Raiders club discontinued. Guzman found out about the club from Zora Goljic, whom she previously played club with and whose father, Zoran, was Guzman’s former coach and now coaches for Oak Brook.
While playing center defense for Oak Brook in September 2018, Guzman injured her knee when she stuck out her leg trying to block a shot. Initially, Guzman was misdiagnosed with an MCL injury and began Reavis offseason training expecting to eventually heal. The knee gave out during an indoor game that December.
A different doctor diagnosed the ACL tear and Guzman underwent surgery Feb. 5, 2019. She missed most of the club season with rehab before making her return to action last September at a tournament in St. Louis.
Guzman does not wear a large knee brace during games. She instead uses a tight compression sleeve as suggested by her doctor.
“(She said) there’s the possibility of getting hurt, but you have to grow more mentally. (Braces) don’t help another injury happening,” Guzman said. “I was scared at first, but I think it helped me, because I got over the fear of playing faster.
“(St. Louis was) my first game, and it went a bit rough. It wasn’t going to go perfect. You have to have high expectations for yourself, especially coming off freshman year, getting those stats.”
Garcia has played all over the field for the Rams, similar to her experiences playing club soccer, most recently with the Berwyn Blazers.
This season, Garcia was moving again – this time to outside midfielder. Garcia believes the switch also would help in her added role as a tri-captain.
“Honestly I was very excited, because the way I play is more an attacking midfielder so that opportunity to get up and help our team more offensively was really exciting,” Garcia said.
“I think last year our captains did a very good job keeping heads up and our spirits up. (Froylan and Valdez are) more in the mental side of the game so I just wanted to bring that technical side. This year, going to outside midfield, I could talk to (teammates) very well: the switches they should make; who to mark; or when they should shift upward.”
At Reavis, Garcia was promoted to varsity halfway through the 2018 season. She collected two goals and an assist playing forward.
As a sophomore, Garcia collected five assists. She began as a center attacking midfielder and then around the Oak Lawn game April 2 switched to center defensive midfielder for the remainder of 2019. One of her favorite memories was the 1-0 victory over Stagg in their second meeting of the season on March 28.
While her freshman year was solid and promising, Guzman still thinks she could have played much better.
More polished and mature soccer-wise after her injury and game experience, Guzman also is much stronger mentally.
“I think I got into my head too much freshman year. This year I get on myself a lot and Grider also is like, ‘You don’t need to keep getting into your head so much,’” she said. “But I think at the same time I’ve grown a lot. I think I’m smarter on the field. Maybe I shouldn’t do that (play), because maybe it’ll take out my knee.”
Guzman never lost sight of her dream of playing college soccer since she was a little girl. When she plays again for Reavis in 2021, Guzman hopes to do so with captain-like fervor, whether she is officially a captain or not.
“Everyone wants you to be that leader type. I’m more of the silent type. I’m not one to yell. I’m more that shy, timid player, always have been,” Guzman said.
“I’m hoping senior year I’ll break out of that shell. All seniors have to be leaders whether they have the captain badge or not. Every senior needs to carry on that leader type of role. This year, these seniors carried on different type of roles, even if they started or not. They all tried to bond with everyone and make everyone as comfortable as they can. That inspires me to hopefully carry that on.”
One of Guzman’s first inspirations came with being on varsity as a freshman and receiving uniform no. 4 from previous head coach Phil Basile.
“Yes, no. 4 has a special place in my heart. I knew before I went to high school whatever number I chose or was giving, I was going to keep it all throughout my high school years,” Guzman said.
“When Coach Basile gave me the no. 4 jersey, I knew that this was going to be my number and hopefully I can leave a great impact to the soccer program with this number.”
Garcia wears no. 8 as a tribute to her father, who wore no. 16 during his days playing for Morton High School in the early 1990s. She also has worn no. 17 in club action.
“I try to use a number half of his or one over so I chose no. 8 last year. If they’re not available, I just pick any random number at that point,” Garcia said.
Froylan wears no. 15 as a tribute to her mother, who played on the first organized girls soccer team at Argo High School in 1988. Froylan first wore the number at Liberty and regained it after wearing no. 24 on the Reavis varsity as a freshman.
“My mother is an important person in my life. She is the reason I am playing soccer today,” Froylan said. “Wearing the no. 15 motivates me every time I step onto the field.”
If she attends college nearby, Froylan will have the opportunity to frequently visit the school and soccer program. Younger brother Alex currently is a junior who plays for the Reavis boys team and has been a manager for the girls. The siblings first started playing together when their mother enrolled them in the park district league.
Fortunately for Froylan, she did have closure in girls cross country, her other Reavis sport as a four-year varsity athlete. Froylan’s teams advanced to Class 3A sectionals her last two seasons and Froylan also was an individual sectional qualifier as a sophomore.
As a senior, Froylan was the Rams’ no. 5 finisher at regionals and sectionals after helping them to back-to-back SSC Red titles.
“I would mentally push myself to be the best runner I could possibly be,” Froylan responded. “Helping my team win another conference title and advancing as a team to sectionals is definitely an unforgettable moment. Staying close to home will make it easier to come out and support former teammates and coaches.”
plan for senior step
By Bill Stone
Reavis junior Isabel Guzman still is able to handle another lost girls soccer season with a smile.
She’s already managed to find positives from missing all of her 2019 season recovering from a torn ACL in her left knee.
“In the end I’m not glad it happened, but I’m glad at the same time. Now I know everything happens for a reason, and it’s making me a better player,” Guzman said.
“On the mental side, I think I’m a lot stronger. I think I appreciate the game way more. I think I see the game differently than when I was a freshman. I play the game like it’s my last game, because that’s my mentality every time I go on the field.”
Guzman and tri-captain Sandy Garcia are among the Rams juniors who were hoping to make a significant impact along with several key seniors and a solid lineup. They felt Reavis could make a run at only the second conference title in program history in the South Suburban Conference’s Red Division.
Guzman earned All-SSC honors in her freshman season. Garcia had the added hope of learning leadership as a first-year tri-captain from senior captains Alyssa Froylan and Cami Valdez.
“I was extremely shocked (to be named). For that to be granted to me as a junior, I was ecstatic. I know if my team needed me to lead I would do the best I could to put us in the best position,” Garcia said.
“Losing a lot of the seniors this year is going to take a toll on us. Seeing on how I can be a difference with the players we have gives me a lot of hope. Seeing how the girls this year responded to me, I think I can give hope to the younger girls.”
Staying hopeful this spring has been difficult, especially after the somewhat expected IHSA April announcement that cancelled the girls soccer state tournament.
There’s still a remote chance of action this summer. That’s part of the driving force for the seniors.
“I will miss practicing and bonding with my teammates. If the stay-at-home order is lifted, we plan on playing a couple of games during the summer,” responded Froylan, who is considering playing soccer at nearby Moraine Valley Community College.
“A tragic ending to a season that never happened. It’s still difficult to accept the fact our season is over. I will use this experience as fuel for next season.”
If anyone knows the anguish of preparing but still having to wait, it’s Guzman. She battled just to return playing with her Oak Brook soccer club by September, six months following surgery.
“I think everyone’s really disappointed right now. It’s pretty rough, especially for the seniors, but I think everyone is trying to have a positive mindset and working hard at the moment, thinking it’s going to happen. If it happens, we want to be the best that we can be at that moment,” Guzman said.
“Everyone is trying to go out and get their touches in, go on runs, be in shape if we go back. It’s impacted me. Working out every day, getting touches in for club, and for this to happen. (Sitting) took a toll on me last year, and I don’t want it to take a toll on me again. If we come back, great. If we don’t, I have to keep pushing myself if I want to keep playing at the next level.”
Garcia also brings an infectious work ethic. Second-year Reavis head coach Jeff Grider said she is consistently is among the first to arrive and last to leave at practice.
“I always try to show up early and get some touches and even get with some girls who show up early,” Garcia said. “I always try to stay, especially with the teammates I have. I stay a little later just to shoot around and make that bond a little stronger.”
Garcia’s dedication earned her that captain spot from the coaches.
Last season, Froylan earned all-sectional and Valdez was honorable mention all-sectional. This should have been their fourth varsity seasons.
“Adding a junior captain this year just shows the captain’s position isn’t only for seniors. It is open to all players that show their dedication and effort throughout the postseason,” Froylan responded.
“Sandra has developed as a player stepping up her game for this year’s season. She has put in the work during the offseason and has really shown it to our coaches. She communicates with everyone, making her voice be heard on and off the field.”
Guzman and Garcia have been through plenty since their first varsity days as freshmen. Their soccer bond goes back to their days to Liberty Middle School.
“We always push each other to be the best,” Guzman said. “(Garcia is) the cheerleader of our group. I remember preseason and the beginning, and we’ll have tough practices where we have to condition. She’ll be like, ‘Come on guys,’ lift everyone’s heads up. Conditioning isn’t easy, but she made it fun at the same time.”
Grider intended to use them in a revamped midfield lineup after both juniors initially made an impact as freshmen forwards.
Guzman was going to play attacking center midfield. Garcia was moving from center to outside midfield for the first time with the Rams.
“Now being on the outside, I can communicate with Isabel, because I’ve been with her since seventh grade. Just having that bond just strengthens us overall,” Garcia said.
“(Teammates) know they can trust me, because as soon as someone is not doing their job, I’m going to help them and let them know I’m there to help them all and to have trust in me.”
Guzman also expected to come back a much stronger player in 2020, thanks to more trust in herself physically and mentally.
Through rehabilitation for her knee, Guzman learned the benefits of better overall fitness. Weight training and pre-game stretching have become part of her regimen.
“I think I’m actually faster than I used to be because of physical therapy,” Guzman said.
“I would go out of every physical therapy tired and sore. Even though I was losing a lot of my (soccer) touches, I was still keeping in shape in a different way. Now I know that it’s important to try and get in half an hour of ACL prevention. Do your squats, jumping. Now going into games, I take stretches more seriously than I used to.”
Guzman began playing soccer at age 5 as one of the boys. She first gained game experience playing in Chicago leagues with her cousins.
“Playing with boys made me more the player I am, the toughness and the technical side that I need,” Guzman said. “You see more and more girls with the boys (now), and you get a different type of game. It’s faster and you have to be tough. It makes you a better player playing together with boys.”
At Liberty, Guzman also competed in cross country and volleyball but opted to focus on soccer at Reavis.
As a freshman, she was the Rams’ no. 3 scorer with eight goals and six assists and earned all-conference honors after moving from wing to forward.
“The older classmen took me under their wings and showed me to not be scared, to push myself,” Guzman said.
“What I enjoy about the soccer team is the team chemistry I build with other players. You make friends at school, but it’s not the same as soccer. They can end up being like your (since) little kid friends, the bond you make with your teammates, knowing they have your back no matter what.”
Even now, Guzman makes the lengthier drive to the Oak Brook soccer club because she likes the “professional environment” established by coach Chris Karabatsis after her Raiders club discontinued. Guzman found out about the club from Zora Goljic, whom she previously played club with and whose father, Zoran, was Guzman’s former coach and now coaches for Oak Brook.
While playing center defense for Oak Brook in September 2018, Guzman injured her knee when she stuck out her leg trying to block a shot. Initially, Guzman was misdiagnosed with an MCL injury and began Reavis offseason training expecting to eventually heal. The knee gave out during an indoor game that December.
A different doctor diagnosed the ACL tear and Guzman underwent surgery Feb. 5, 2019. She missed most of the club season with rehab before making her return to action last September at a tournament in St. Louis.
Guzman does not wear a large knee brace during games. She instead uses a tight compression sleeve as suggested by her doctor.
“(She said) there’s the possibility of getting hurt, but you have to grow more mentally. (Braces) don’t help another injury happening,” Guzman said. “I was scared at first, but I think it helped me, because I got over the fear of playing faster.
“(St. Louis was) my first game, and it went a bit rough. It wasn’t going to go perfect. You have to have high expectations for yourself, especially coming off freshman year, getting those stats.”
Garcia has played all over the field for the Rams, similar to her experiences playing club soccer, most recently with the Berwyn Blazers.
This season, Garcia was moving again – this time to outside midfielder. Garcia believes the switch also would help in her added role as a tri-captain.
“Honestly I was very excited, because the way I play is more an attacking midfielder so that opportunity to get up and help our team more offensively was really exciting,” Garcia said.
“I think last year our captains did a very good job keeping heads up and our spirits up. (Froylan and Valdez are) more in the mental side of the game so I just wanted to bring that technical side. This year, going to outside midfield, I could talk to (teammates) very well: the switches they should make; who to mark; or when they should shift upward.”
At Reavis, Garcia was promoted to varsity halfway through the 2018 season. She collected two goals and an assist playing forward.
As a sophomore, Garcia collected five assists. She began as a center attacking midfielder and then around the Oak Lawn game April 2 switched to center defensive midfielder for the remainder of 2019. One of her favorite memories was the 1-0 victory over Stagg in their second meeting of the season on March 28.
While her freshman year was solid and promising, Guzman still thinks she could have played much better.
More polished and mature soccer-wise after her injury and game experience, Guzman also is much stronger mentally.
“I think I got into my head too much freshman year. This year I get on myself a lot and Grider also is like, ‘You don’t need to keep getting into your head so much,’” she said. “But I think at the same time I’ve grown a lot. I think I’m smarter on the field. Maybe I shouldn’t do that (play), because maybe it’ll take out my knee.”
Guzman never lost sight of her dream of playing college soccer since she was a little girl. When she plays again for Reavis in 2021, Guzman hopes to do so with captain-like fervor, whether she is officially a captain or not.
“Everyone wants you to be that leader type. I’m more of the silent type. I’m not one to yell. I’m more that shy, timid player, always have been,” Guzman said.
“I’m hoping senior year I’ll break out of that shell. All seniors have to be leaders whether they have the captain badge or not. Every senior needs to carry on that leader type of role. This year, these seniors carried on different type of roles, even if they started or not. They all tried to bond with everyone and make everyone as comfortable as they can. That inspires me to hopefully carry that on.”
One of Guzman’s first inspirations came with being on varsity as a freshman and receiving uniform no. 4 from previous head coach Phil Basile.
“Yes, no. 4 has a special place in my heart. I knew before I went to high school whatever number I chose or was giving, I was going to keep it all throughout my high school years,” Guzman said.
“When Coach Basile gave me the no. 4 jersey, I knew that this was going to be my number and hopefully I can leave a great impact to the soccer program with this number.”
Garcia wears no. 8 as a tribute to her father, who wore no. 16 during his days playing for Morton High School in the early 1990s. She also has worn no. 17 in club action.
“I try to use a number half of his or one over so I chose no. 8 last year. If they’re not available, I just pick any random number at that point,” Garcia said.
Froylan wears no. 15 as a tribute to her mother, who played on the first organized girls soccer team at Argo High School in 1988. Froylan first wore the number at Liberty and regained it after wearing no. 24 on the Reavis varsity as a freshman.
“My mother is an important person in my life. She is the reason I am playing soccer today,” Froylan said. “Wearing the no. 15 motivates me every time I step onto the field.”
If she attends college nearby, Froylan will have the opportunity to frequently visit the school and soccer program. Younger brother Alex currently is a junior who plays for the Reavis boys team and has been a manager for the girls. The siblings first started playing together when their mother enrolled them in the park district league.
Fortunately for Froylan, she did have closure in girls cross country, her other Reavis sport as a four-year varsity athlete. Froylan’s teams advanced to Class 3A sectionals her last two seasons and Froylan also was an individual sectional qualifier as a sophomore.
As a senior, Froylan was the Rams’ no. 5 finisher at regionals and sectionals after helping them to back-to-back SSC Red titles.
“I would mentally push myself to be the best runner I could possibly be,” Froylan responded. “Helping my team win another conference title and advancing as a team to sectionals is definitely an unforgettable moment. Staying close to home will make it easier to come out and support former teammates and coaches.”