LOS ANGELES, CA – The girls’ soccer team at Whittier High School is headed to the CIF Championships for the first time in the school’s history.

  • Whittier girls’ soccer team going to Championships
  • Players say changing their mentality made them better
  • New coach helped them gain more confidence

Players say changing their mental game made all the difference for them on the field. Three years ago the team goalie, Ana Ramos, was used to seeing balls inside the net. The team always lost because she says they didn’t believe they could win.

“My freshman, sophomore year we had the mentality of ok it’s just a game. We’re going to lose,” said Ramos. “That’s how it is.”

However, around the time they got a new head coach, they slowly gained more confidence.

“They just rallied around themselves and they weren’t satisfied with how the program was going,” said head coach Shannon Bowe. “As soon as I took over the program they started to show up to practice all the time. They went from 30 percent practice attendance to 95 to 100 practice attendance and they became committed and dedicated. They became like a family and changed the culture.”

The change led them to beating the best team in their league, which made them even closer and more confident.

“I’m so proud of my team because we’ve made it from something so little to something that created history here,” said player Brianna Casas.

Their coach hopes those lessons they learned on the field will carry them wherever they go.

“I know they are going to overcome so many things later on and be faced with so many challenges,” Bowe said. “I hope they can take this moment of you came from the bottom and you really went to the top because of your hard work and your perseverance and what you wanted to do.”

They take the field in their first CIF playoff game on Wednesday night in search of a victory, but already as winners.