By: Anne Larsen
Attention all offensive girls varsity soccer players! You listening? Good. I am going to give you a heads up. Just a little tip. If you face Black Hills High School (BHHS) next year and find yourself stuck like glue to player #2, you can consider yourself one of two things:
1. “A great player” – because player #2 makes the best offensive shooter her “mark,” so if you find yourself with her, yes, you’re that good.
2. “Unlucky” – because #2 has you as her mark, and this girl is focused, speedy, intense, and a fighter until the bitter end. Nothing will be easy facing her. I’m not telling you to quit, but let’s just say you’ve been warned.
Who is the wunderkid?!? BHHS’s very own Jessi Fancher.
Coach Lisa Summers has been coaching varsity girls soccer at BHHS since 1997 and she’s coached sophomore player Jessi Fancer for the past two soccer seasons. In the past two years, Lisa has watched Jessi build confidence, defensive composure, and skill refinement (dribbling, passing, shooting, long balls and trappings) to be able to shut down her mark. That is what Jessi is known for, her amazing ability to shut down whomever she is covering. She has the speed of an offensive player, and with this speed she’s able to stay on top of her mark and successfully guard the big scorers.
Jessi has been kicking the soccer ball around since the age of 7. Before playing for BHHS, she was coached by her dad, Jeff Fancher, on a Tumwater Recreation League. Jeff balanced the “coach/dad” dilemma in many ways. One thing that he opted for was to have the assistant coach work and practice with Jessi, while he coached the other players. “I tried to never favor Jessi.” That whole “not favoring your kid” works well for both the kid and the coach! What else did Jeff do to make the coach/dad transition run more smoothly? He stayed positive. “On the ride home I would never criticize or judge Jessi’s performance. If things went wrong during practice, I didn’t bring it up on the drive home.” No kid wants to be harped on about the one thing they did wrong (no adult really does either). Having a grumpy car ride is really no fun for anyone. Also, “remember what you as a coach or a dad may perceive as a bad practice, the kids may think was great.”
There is nothing but good stuff happening on the BHHS varsity girls soccer team. They are looking forward to strong incoming Freshman next season. The team had a record number of shut outs last season – 13! And, they have been to State the last two seasons. Jessi, as I’m sure her teammates would agree, thinks it would be amazing for BHHS to win State. Just making it to State is a big deal! I asked Coach Summers about going to State. “It is a wonderful accomplishment for any program but what an amazing accomplishment for the youth that dominated both teams. We have players that are willing to make improvements by leaps and bounds, work hard, and they are rewarded for it. Although we lost in the first round of State—our program continues to make it to the first round. The girls are able to play against some of the best young soccer talent in the Pacific Northwest.”
Jessi is looking forward to an amazing Junior year. Both coach and athlete have a similar goal for Jessi–to be voted “1st team league defender.” The league coach’s vote for the players (1st team and 2nd team) and it’s a great recognition within the league of a player’s performance. “I want Jessie to continue to excel as a defender and would love for her to be recognized by the league and area as a 1st team defender,” says Coach Summers.
Jessi’s advice to the up and coming BHHS students and maybe potential players? Try out for soccer! Athletically, “focus on practicing your 800 run.” Coach Summers has a goal for the girls to run three 800’s in 2:45 – 3 minutes. That’s FAST Coach Summers! But, “if you join the team you’ll learn a lot. We really bond together as a team. Everything is fun, the bus rides, practices — everything!”Coach Summers teaches the girls to love the game, “enjoy their time spent with each other, and to go after whatever goals the team aspires.”
Jessi is one of those great kids that will fool you! Talking to her she seems sweet as pie (which she is!), but she is one tough cookie out there on the field. I would hate to face her, her constant advice to herself on the field is “stay on mark.” This girl has no barriers and will “play through the pain and keep going.” Coach Summers describes her as “sweet, goofy, smart, committed, and adorable!” I couldn’t agree more.
