Kacy Puno is a senior at Glendale High School, and she is the captain of the varsity girl’s soccer team at GHS. She was born and raised in Los Angeles, and during her free time, she enjoys reading, listening to music, and playing with her dog. For two years, Kacy has also been a part of our GHS Nitro Press, as she was a member of the Explosion staff last year, and this year she is on the 2023 GHS yearbook staff.
This will be Kacy’s fourth year on the varsity soccer team as either a forward or a striker, but recently she has been playing at midfield, center back, and left back. Even before coming to GHS, she had been playing soccer since she was just six years old. Besides playing for the Nitro team, she has also been on multiple club soccer teams in the past.
This is Kacy’s first year as a team captain, as only seniors are traditionally allowed to be captains on the team. She feels that there is a lot of pressure and responsibility to take on because she is now a leader for her teammates. She also needs to keep her head in the game at all times, and she definitely has to hide her emotions as well.
As a captain, Kacy is in charge of keeping the players emotionally and physically ready for each game. She has to make sure that their practice drills are ready and going, and she confirms that her teammates are prepared, warmed up, and in their uniforms before every match. Kacy also checks in with the teammates to see if something is wrong with them, and she tries to boost them up a bit if they need it.
To be a cohesive team, it is important to have good communication, which is one of their issues right now. Kacy still tries to have her teammates talk with one another and bring the players together. When she notices that a player is struggling, Kacy tries to remind them of the best things that have happened during the season, to help improve their mind or attitude.
An important piece of advice that Kacy usually gives to her teammates is just to keep their heads up during games. She reminds them that they all have the skills to play soccer, so they must believe in themselves and that they can do better. They also have to train and practice hard every day for the entire year.
Her sister is the person that made Kacy want to play soccer in the first place. She would always watch her sister play or practice, and that made her want to try playing soccer as well, and eventually, she became passionate about it.
Still today, her sister still keeps her motivated to continue playing soccer. Kacy’s sister was also a captain of the GHS soccer team when she was a student here. This motivated Kacy to be a captain as well because she wanted to reach her sister’s goal and make it to the top.
Since she was a little girl, Kacy has always wanted to play professional soccer, but now that she is a senior, she has other plans than soccer. She feels that to make it in the professional world, you must have the skills and ability to play at that level, but she feels that she doesn’t quite have it.
Even though she won’t make this career happen, she still hopes to play soccer for USC or Stanford. Besides soccer, she plans to study political science or criminology, and she wants eventually to become a lawyer and a judge. She is also interested in training to work for the FBI.
If you are interested in playing for the girl’s soccer team, please email Coach Marroquin at [email protected]. Keep kickin’ it, Nitros!
