Sydney Gonzalez used to be called “Firecracker” for the way she sparred in martial arts as a youngster.
“When they said to go I just kept going, and they had to pull me away in order for me to stop,” said Gonzalez. “It was kind of funny/embarrassing, but it was OK for my age.”
Gonzalez has been going and going since those days, in sports, the arts, school and work. She stopped doing taekwondo after her teacher left. She had reached second-degree black belt by then, but as she began middle school the change allowed her to pour her energy into soccer.
“I feel like that’s one of the main things that you have to have when you’re playing a team sport like that, especially when you have to play the full 80-90 minutes,” Gonzalez said. “Depending on what level you’re playing at, you have to bring consistently good energy no matter where you are. If it’s on the bench, if you’re injured, if you’re on the field, even if you’re tired, energy is like the one thing that I think keeps the team going and positive motivation to get through hard times.”
Gonzalez figures to be on the field for a lot of minutes this year for a Ewing High School girls soccer team with high ambitions for a breakout season.
The Blue Devils open with four straight road games, beginning at Phillipsburg on Sept. 7.
“I look forward to beating teams that we’ve beaten before,” Gonzalez said. “And potentially even more teams that we haven’t played yet.”
The Blue Devils graduated just three seniors from last year’s 8-12 team. Gonzalez is one of 11 seniors on the Ewing roster, with many of them having years of playing experience together in club and on the high school team.
“We were counting down since I’m pretty sure like sophomore year, even maybe end of freshman year,” Gonzalez said. “And I knew when we got to the point we are right now when we’re kind of like the big dogs or like the entire senior class is the soccer team, it’s kind of a great feeling to have, knowing that we have people to back us up.”
Ewing is looking to be a more competitive side this year with all its experience returning. The Blue Devils’ biggest task is replacing Shawnae Biggs, last year’s leading scorer. Gonzalez’s leadership in the middle of the field will help. Her leadership style is reminiscent of her sparring drive.
“She’s very vocal on the field,” said Ewing head coach Angelina Gummel. “She wants to make sure everyone is doing well. No matter where you put her, she’s going to work hard. Even if she comes out for a few seconds to catch her breath, she’s still trying to maintain that leadership role, even on the sideline, and I think it’s fantastic.”
Gonzalez is a leader in other areas of her life as well. She is gearing up to be this year’s student council president. She will be charged with the responsibilities of keeping the group organized and on track for planning events.
“I know I will be able to handle it,” Gonzalez said. “It’s something I’ve been looking forward to since I was a freshman. So now that that’s actually going to happen, it’s a great feeling to have.”
Gonzalez will juggle her soccer and student council duties with playing the violin in the school orchestra. She also does Honors Symphony and Chamber Symphony. She’s in National Honor Society, part of Project Unify and in her free time has coaches younger players with Ewing recreation soccer.
“I feel like I’ve always had a plate that I can always manage,” Gonzalez said. “And if it’s not, I’ve learned with myself, especially last year, that it’s OK to take some things off if I’m not up for it.”
Strong player leadership could make Gummel’s first year as head coach of Ewing easier. An assistant the past seven years, Gummel takes over this year for Shannon Pedersen, who had her first child. Gummel’s familiarity with the team has helped ease the transition.
“Coach Gummel wasn’t like a stranger to us,” Gonzalez said. “She was always there with us since we were freshmen, which has really been nice. And over the years we’ve kind of learned to know her and how she is in her cues and when she means business and we actually have to lock in and perform.”
Gonzalez has been a top performer wherever the Blue Devils have used her. A natural midfielder, she took on the role of center back last year to shore up the defense. She is hoping to return to the center midfield this fall.
“I can play either very defensively or very offensively depending on the team that we’re playing and what is needed from me at that time,” Gonzalez said. “I think I have great vision on the ball and I’m very vocal when it comes to me being on the field and where I want the ball to be at certain times and how I’m defending people.”
Gonzalez started playing soccer even before she got into martial arts. She was 4 when she started with the Ewing recreation center. She has grown more and more serious about the sport. When she stopped doing taekwondo, she could focus more on travel soccer, first with Sky Blue before moving to Next Level whom she plays for now.
Along the way, some of the same girls that she was playing with from first grade on have been her teammates. They are seniors now, determined to put together a breakout season.
“The one thing that really frustrates me the most is how people look down on Ewing,” Gonzalez said. “They just talk so much about you but honestly I feel like it’s one of the better teams when we are all on our ‘A’ game and when we’re just going and have that one momentum strike and we just keep going.”
There’s a different mindset among the Blue Devils this year. They are confident that they can make some louder noise in the Colonial Valley Conference.
“I’m very excited because all of these girls are so close,” Gummel said. “They’ve played travel together for so long and they still play together, so it’s nice that they don’t have to re-bond with each other. They’re able to communicate well. We did a scrimmage just in our squad and their communication skills and just knowing where each other was on the field was fantastic.”
Communication will be a key advantage this year. Gummel sees it as a way to push Ewing higher than many seasons.
“That’s honestly the most important thing is their communication with each other and trusting each other on the field,” she said. “I think their relationships, and friendships on and off the field really helped them be stronger together and communicate and know each other and kind of push each other, not in a bad way. But like, ‘I know you can do a little bit better.’”
She feels good about the team’s pieces front to back.
“Attack wise they are on with their skill set, dribbling wise, they’re confident with their ball control,” Gummel said. “They’re eager to find the back of the net, so I think that’s a really great thing to strive for. We’ve got a nice core midfield. They work really well with each other and they can distribute the ball well, making sure that they’re keeping everyone kind of in line. Our back line is going to be strong as well. They work well together. You know the type of defending that we do if they don’t work well together, it falls apart and I think they realized that last year and want to improve upon it. And they know when it works well and they see the result. So I think they’re just striving to be better. Emily (Gamboa Ordini) is just amazing in goal and I’m so happy that she’s going to be back.”
The Blue Devils are focused on pushing each other to new heights. They have been trending up over their careers, and the seniors are ready to leave a legacy.
“I have expectations for us to succeed,” Gonzalez said. “We had a pretty good record the past two years, so I hope that we keep the same records this year and maybe even beat our records from the past because I know last year we had a record that we hadn’t had in a while, in almost 10 years, I think, which is a very great accomplishment within itself. When we accomplished that, it was a great feeling to have within the entire team.”
Gonzalez hopes to exit Ewing with an even better feeling after this year. She is interested in studying sports management or sports marketing with likely a double minor in business or marketing in college. And she’s hoping to continue playing soccer. As she always has, she’s going to keep going until she finishes the job, and that includes being a spark for the Ewing soccer team.
“I’m going to look forward to having a great year and a great senior season,” said Gonzalez.
Ewing High School girls’ soccer player Sydney Gonzalez.,
