McAllen Rowe girls soccer head coach John Martinez said he took his team out of town to play in the Battle of the Backbone Championship soccer tournament, co-hosted by Wimberley and Canyon high schools.
But was that the only reason?
“Our seniors have never traveled, because of COVID one year and then we always play in the McAllen Showcase,” said Martinez, whose team performed well, falling in the championship 2-1 to West Plains, a Class 4A power ranked among the Region 1’s top five. “We saw some teams that were fast and physical and some that controlled the ball. It was a good indication of what we’re going to see in district and, hopefully, it prepared us.”
The Warriors recorded a 3-1 record in the event, beating another 4A perennial power Wimberley, 5-4.
“I wanted to expose the girls to something else, the seniors hadn’t traveled at all,” Martinez said. “I wanted to get them exposed to different styles of play and officiating – everything’s a foul down here, nothing’s a foul up there. I was very impressed with the freshmen who came in and went toe to toe and blow for blow with them. Them knocking down some big girls was nice to see.”
After losing mega stars, Ayloni Garcia, The RGVSports.com 2023 All Valley Girls Soccer Player of the Year and all-area standout Mia Mata, to graduation last year, Rowe is somewhat a mystery compared to recent years as District 31-5A play begins Friday when Rowe and McAllen High kick off at 8 p.m. at Rowe. The mystery remained unveiled a little more this year while Rowe went out of town during the annual McAllen ISD Girls Showcase.
Was it coincidence maybe?
“There’s no doubt it gives us a little advantage. There’s a big question mark with us after losing some big guns and how we are going to develop this season,” Martinez said. “But they’ll see us real quickly. (McHi head coach Patrick) Arney and (Memorial coach Matthew) Kaiser are good coaches and they know how to adjust.”
In general, all three McAllen schools have varying styles (“we play the right way,” Martinez said.”). The Mustangs, especially this season, want to gallop out in front and run teams to exhaustion. They have a loaded and young group. McAllen High plays more ball control, is devastating on corner kicks and is also offensive-minded. Rowe is the aggressor, physical and, at least going into district, a little more unknown than in the past.
“John will have something for us,” Arney said. “He always does.”
“He’s right,” Martinez countered. “But he’s going to have something for us as well. Plus, we’re still bitter about that third-round playoff loss last year where we had some chances. We hope to slow them down and get a few more goals than them.”
Rowe is led by Camila Gil, a senior who has been a team captain since her sophomore year. Gil became the all-time leading scorer for the girls program over the weekend, passing Garcia’s 96 career goals that she set last year.
“These girls have been showing up since August every day before school on their own at 6:45 a.m.” Martinez said. “I get there at 7:15 a.m. and they are already on the field. Camila is leading that. She has been another coach out there and they have bought into her and us. She’s an extension of me and what we want to do. She deserved all the accolades and praise that she gets.”
Referencing back to style of play, especially between the three McAllen schools, Martinez said “We are more aggressive, we play the right way – to combat the McHis and Memorials and Velas and Sharylands who like to go fast and control the game. They are like the Barcelonas and we are the Real Madrids. We live in the weight rooms all offseason.
“This is probably the 10th year in a row with us and McHi playing the first game in district,” said Martinez, who won his 200th career match over the weekend. “I hype this game up for our girls and we pay attention to details at practice in everything we are doing. It has shown over the past couple seasons, but every year is a different year. It can be 6-0 or a 1-1 or 2-1, we don’t know until we get going and step up.”
