It’s the middle of a blowout game for Providence soccer against one of the weaker teams in the league. Many players look at these types of games as an opportunity to run up their stats, to score a record amount of goals, to flaunt their skills. The game play itself, however, is enough to show that Providence players view these games differently. The best player for the Highlanders finds himself in a fast break and sets up for an easy goal-scoring opportunity. For this particular player, this will be a simple tap in to add another goal next to his name on the score sheet. But instead of going for the goal, Joe Moisant takes another route. He looks up to see his teammate next to him who doesn’t regularly get many opportunities to put the ball in the net. Moisant passes on the opportunity and lays the ball off for his teammate to score, only to gladly celebrate the goal with him and receive little credit. What you cannot see when observing this play is that Moisant is the top scorer in the state and is in chase of breaking a league record of goals, yet he still passed it off.

Why? Why would a perfectly capable player who has a great opportunity to get closer to having his name in the record books pass on such an inviting opportunity? Is it because he wasn’t sure that he was going to score? Doubtful. Moisant scores these opportunities in his sleep. No, the pass came merely out of selfless desire for his teammate to succeed. This selflessness permeates throughout the whole Providence soccer team, and it starts all the way back in the classroom and seeps out onto the sports field.

Unity is always a priority at Providence. In the classroom, in the hallways, in the lunchroom, at school events, students experience growth in unity. This unity comes through brotherly love centered around the students’ love for Christ. When players like Joe Moisant can selflessly love their teammates, they put their own desires aside and work for a common goal. The soccer team is especially united through a bond that only a soccer team can give. Not only does this common goal enable us to share a bond, but it enables us to succeed as a team. Many wonder how such a small school can see so much success on the soccer field. It is fighting for this common goal and the support from the coaches that enables us to do so.

The coaches on the team also work to encourage this unity and encourage growth for the players. Priorities that the soccer team learns to value (through constant reminders from Coach Morris) are to work hard, honor God, and have fun. The coaches understand that success comes through hard work, and they demand hard work from us in practice and in games. But somehow, even though practices can be the hardest part of every day, the practices are often the most fun part of every day, for me as a player. Everyone is out there to improve, and we all know that it takes hard work, but we all enjoy playing with our teammates and learning together. That, combined with endless, poor jokes from Coach England, makes for plenty of laughter together. Finally, honoring God comes first for the team. Coaches hold a high standard for our conduct and words with each other and with other teams, on and off the field. Coaches will even go to the lengths of pulling players for an important game if that is required to keep the team’s conduct worthy of being honoring to God. They make sure we understand the importance of glorifying God as a team.

All of this serves to make Providence soccer an experience that everyone wants to be a part of. It makes it an opportunity that I always look forward to. In my three years of being on the team, it has become a huge part of my life. The day that the season ends, there is something missing that everyone on the team can feel, which then leaves you anxious for the next year. That is why alumni who can no longer be on the team will invariably come back to practices and watch games. That is why fellow students and families unaffiliated with the soccer team will travel to games two hours away to watch the team play. Providence soccer is an experience that no one wants to miss out on.