Before this school year, Pioneer Valley High School student Charolette Ionata had never played a game of soccer in her life. Now she’s the varsity team’s starting goalie, and she’s making huge strides.
Ionata, a senior, is an athlete by nature, according to coach Bilena Brafman, who said Ionata has long played volleyball and water polo. But when several schools on the Central Coast opted to move water polo’s season from winter to fall, Ionata was left without her usual winter sport, and Brafman invited her onto the soccer team.
Fortunately, Ionata accepted, and trained with the team throughout the summer, improving almost exponentially with each passing day. She played her first ever game of soccer on Nov. 27, and Brafman called her performance “outstanding.”
“It takes a lot of courage to do that,” Brafman said of Ionata’s decision to try something totally new. “She’s just an inspiration.”
This article appears in Dec 6-13, 2018.