We are the champions, too: Cathedral High School girls win first-ever state soccer championship

Members of the Cathedral High School girls’ soccer team whoop it up after beating Penn High School from Mishawaka, Ind., on Oct. 27 to win their first-ever state championship in girls’ soccer. (Submitted photo)

By John Shaughnessy

Until this year, Marc Behringer quickly met with his soccer team after the end of the season—to begin the planning and the work that he hoped would pave the way for next year’s success.

Yet when the season ended this fall for the Irish girls’ soccer team at Cathedral High School in Indianapolis, Behringer decided to follow a different approach because the team had just won its first-ever Indiana High School Athletic Association state ­championship.

“These kinds of things don’t come around too often in life,” said Behringer, who is in his 12th year of coaching at Cathedral. “We want the girls to appreciate the success before they move on to something else. They’ll be able to look back on this as an exciting time in our lives.”

So the team meetings to prepare for the 2008 season won’t begin until early January as the girls’ soccer program continues to savor its win over Penn High School from Mishawaka, Ind., in the Oct. 27 championship game.

As his program celebrates the ­championship, Behringer also finds pride in some of the accomplishments his players made off the field. He mentions the girls’ involvement in community service, including an effort to raise money for breast cancer research.

“Our girls rallied around one of their teammates this year because her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer right before the season,” the coach said. “They made T-shirts to raise money to support research in breast cancer.”

Behringer also mentions the grade-point-average of the varsity team: 3.96 on a scale of 4.0. The average GPA of the team’s seven seniors was 4.1, factored on a scale that included extra-weighted classes.

Similar to the classroom, the seniors set the standard on the field, Behringer said.

“When you have success as a group and a team, the first thing that’s important is the leadership,” Behringer said. “Each year, the team goes where the seniors lead and this year was no different. A lot of our success had to do with the example the seniors set as far as team unity, communication and work ethic. After that, you have to have talented players. Then you have an opportunity to be successful. This team took advantage of opportunities. I have a real sense of pride in the girls.”

Besides praising the players, Behringer also credited the coaches, managers and parents of this year’s team—and previous teams.

“This team this year stands on the shoulders of all the teams before them,” he said. “They don’t stand alone. That’s why I’m hoping this success is shared by a much larger group.”

While more than a month has passed since the championship game, Behringer can easily recall the scene of the players celebrating their win by jumping into a pile on the field. It’s a joyous image that he’s sure will never fade from his memory.

“I don’t think I’ll ever stop savoring it,” he said. “We want to enjoy it as long as we can. This life is supposed to be full of joy. When the situation arises where we get to have the joy God wants us to have, it’s important to let it soak in and savor it.” †