The Mater Dei boy’s soccer team officially began their season with a home game on Dec. 9 against Foothill. Even before the season begins coach Sean Ganey keeps his players on their toes, so the grind has already started for the players in the summer and throughout the fall season.

Mater Dei’s summer soccer camp is a time for the coaches to get a good look at the incoming freshman and give the returning players a chance to maintain their fitness for the school year. Ganey has focused on building the team’s strength in the off-season.

“Being that the program is so young, [we are] just trying to get bigger, faster, and stronger,” he said.

Coach Ganey praises the “young program” he has under his helm.   Ganey’s assessment of the team is one of technical skills and good speed of play.

His prediction for the season is optimistic and their target of making it to CIF is well within their reach.

“[There is] young talent who have had a year under their belt playing in the Trinity League and older leadership,” he said.

Senior Ben Martin is a source of  leadership and inspiration for the team. He has played all four years at Mater Dei. He believes in the team and and sees their potential for the upcoming season.

“If they focus on soccer and keep developing, they could win CIF,” Martin said.

Martin’s future in soccer is bright and he wants to finish his Mater Dei soccer career with a winning record and CIF title. He is being looked by a number of universities to play soccer at the collegiate level. The schools he’s currently most interested in are University of San Francisco, UC Irvine, UC Berkeley and University of North Carolina.

The talent in the soccer program at Mater Dei boasts is one of the best, and all the players need to do is focus on their objective. The chemistry between the players is unparalleled, so the boys soccer team has the potential to do anything and “the sky is the limit” according to  Ganey.