Meet Jesi Sasaki

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Author: Lizeth Castillo

Women’s Soccer player Jesi Sasaki (first-year) was recently named “Player of the Year” by the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC). I sat down with Sasaki last week and she shared her thoughts on her achievement, her soccer background, the women’s team, her expectations for next season, as well as the people in her life who have motivated her in her athletic pursuits.

For Sasaki, soccer began as a family affair. “I started playing soccer because my dad was, and still is, really into sports,” Sasaki said. Having played soccer since she was five years old, it’s easy to see how this Oxy talent was so readily recognized. A Hawaii native, Sasaki was involved in both school and club soccer teams growing up and her club team routinely competed in national competitions. Sasaki’s competitive high school team has worked as motivation for her. Sasaki was cut from her varsity soccer team her freshman year of high school, and she says that being cut was her primary motivation to excel, as she wanted to prove that she deserved a spot on the team. High school was an especially bumpy road for Sasaki as she had to overcome a torn lateral collateral ligament (LCL) before her senior year. “That was the time I was debating if I should quit or not,” Sasaki said. She chose to stick with soccer and overcame her injury in time to have a solid senior season.

Oxy offered Sasaki the opportunity to continue her soccer career on a very competitive team. Although the women’s soccer team had a disappointing season in 2006, Sasaki believes that the disappointment worked to the team’s advantage. “Coming in we were the underdogs,” she said, adding that the team wasn’t expecting to be as good as they were this season.

The difficult games at the beginning of the season went the Tigers’ way and provided them with extra motivation for the season. The team did well the first half of the season, but their back-to-back losses to Chapman and Pomona played a dramatic role in the girls’ spirit halfway through the season. These setbacks not only ended the team’s hot streak, it also left the team downhearted. However, Sasaki said the team had far too much character to get down on their season. “Our team has so much heart . . . we just give everything to each other,” Sasaki said, adding that the losses to Chapman and Pomona provided extra motivation that “just carried us throughout the whole season.”

As a first year, it was expected that Sasaki would be a little nervous entering a new school and a new soccer team. However, she says her assimilation went smoothly thanks to her teammates. “The team made it really easy for me to fit in,” Sasaki said.

Her appreciation for her fellow team members has also been an influential force in Sasaki’s Oxy soccer experience. As a first-year, Sasaki has benefited from the friendly, welcoming atmosphere on the women’s soccer team, and her teammates have served as role models for her. “I think everyone on the team has their different aspects or characteristics that I look up to,” Sasaki said.

In relation to her expectations for next season, Sasaki hopes that the team will “continue to work together and not let this season get to our heads . . . we’re a humble team.” Sasaki believes that the team’s incredible season serves as a motivation to work even harder. “We shouldn’t just settle for what we’ve got. We should keep striving,” Sasaki said.

The team’s high expectations mean hard work for Sasaki. “It takes a lot of effort to be on this team. It’s not just physical but mental effort, too.” The team’s intensive training regimen, which includes practice or a game every day of the week except Sunday, also helped them reach their initial goal to make it to the top four. She relates that her hectic schedule can sometimes be “emotionally draining,” but the team’s achievements and her teammates’ positive attitudes allow them all to have fun and recuperate.

Surprisingly, Sasaki has yet to celebrate her newly appropriated title. Although her family is incredibly proud of her, especially after the news of her SCIAC Player of the Year award was published in a local Hawaiian newspaper, she herself is still adjusting to the achievement. “I was really surprised and shocked . . . there’s a lot of good talent out there,” Sasaki said. “I don’t think I could have gotten this recognition without the team.”

Sasaki sincerely sees her award as a team accomplishment and she praises her teammates for their inspiration. “Most of the time I was playing for them. We’re all in it together.”

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