Childhood summers spent dribbling the ball past each other in the backyard solidified into fond memories. Those recollections simultaneously bring up the image of a friend, a teammate, an opponent and a sibling in several members of the Varsity boys’ and girls’ soccer teams.

Siblings Jeremiah Anderson (12) and Joelle Anderson (10) started playing recreational soccer when they were around four years old. Their parents initially encouraged them to try out several sports, but in the end, they both continued with soccer.

They remember playing soccer every summer in their backyard with their little brother. For hours, they would shoot the ball into an abandoned goal they brought home from the middle school campus.

Aside from playing soccer during the summer, Jeremiah and Joelle occasionally train with each other. Nowadays, they don’t get the chance to see each other that much due to their schedules.

“It’s nice having that connection between the boy’s and girl’s soccer team,” Jeremiah said. “But it’s not really that different because we’ve been playing soccer together for our whole life.”

Brother and sister Kedar (10) and Gabriela (Gabi) Gupta (12) similarly recall playing soccer together as children. It also became a piece of common ground for them – through their rides home and co-ed soccer practices at school, they found it helped them bond over the years.

“Gabi’s a good role model,” Kedar said. “Since she’s older than me and she’s the captain of the team, it’s nice to look up to her, [and] see what I have to do – maybe how to run the team in my forthcoming years.”

Although they no longer have the same time to practice together, they remember a childhood game their mom coached where Kedar won the title of Most Valuable Player.

“We scrimmaged each other, and I scored against Gabi twice,” Kedar said.

“That happened,” Gabi said.

Oisin (11) and Aislinn Coveney (9) both enjoy their “big support system” that has developed from playing soccer.

“I’ll come to [Aislinn’s] game, [and] she’ll come to my game,” Oisin said. “That’s a sibling relationship.”

As they used to practice together in addition to attending club practices, the mixed practices the boy’s and girl’s varsity teams held continued to offer them opportunities to play together.

“The mixed practices that we do sometimes are really fun because I’m usually on the team with my brother, so [I] get to play with [him],” Aislinn said.

Oisin remembers the 1 v 1’s they’ve played in the past.

“All of my [favorite] memories are based on me scoring on her,” Oisin said. “I kicked her in the face a few times.”