WEST CANAAN — If ever there was a time to enjoy the one thing Mara Isham has long wanted, it’s now.
Having played her first three high school soccer seasons in a boys program, the Mascoma High senior is reveling in the arrival of the school’s first varsity girls soccer team. The Royals started workouts Tuesday with 15 athletes, a new coach and a coronavirus pandemic-altered landscape in which to plant their roots.
“It’s the perfect time,” Isham said prior to the Royals’ practice Wednesday. “Everything’s uncertain, but we know one thing is that we have the program starting and we know that, while there’s a pandemic, not everything is taken as seriously. So it’s a great time to get all of our jitters out and get all of the wrinkles out of a new program.”
Isham participated with the Mascoma boys last fall but will enjoy a program of her own this fall. The Mascoma School Board had shown interest in funding varsity girls soccer since 2017 but was finally able to get the ball rolling last winter.
First-year coach Denver Greene is still in the process of assessing abilities. By the time the Royals open their season against Stevens on Sept. 19, he’ll have had about a week and half of official preparation time.
“We had a parent meeting after our practice (on Tuesday), and I said to the parents, ‘If there was ever a good time to start a program during a pandemic, I feel like this is the right time,’ ” Greene said from behind a New York Red Bulls facemask. “We’re playing local schools, some smaller, some bigger. I said to the girls, ‘I think it’s a great test to go up against the Hanovers and the Lebanons and the Stevenses and see where we’re at.’ ”
Mascoma has been slowly ramping up for this moment.
Girls have long had a youth soccer outlet through the Mascoma Youth Soccer League. Girls-only play at the middle school level reached the Indian River School a few years ago. High school varsity was a natural next step.
The pandemic has thrown some hurdles, but it’s also provided an opportunity. Greene’s summer efforts were limited to individual skills training; the Royals weren’t permitted any sort of league play. The season opener with the Cardinals will be Mascoma’s first time playing as a unit.
“I think everyone here has a love for the game; I think they all want to be here,” Isham said. “It definitely varies between players. I think that we’re not as strong as we can be, but we’re also not the weakest team around. I feel that we definitely have more growth in us, but we have a solid build and an idea of the game of soccer.”
Isham is one of five girls returning from a boys program that made the NHIAA Division III semifinals last fall for the first time in school history. Greene said the group — which includes junior Brianna Withington and sophomores Madisun LaCasse, Rhiannon Stone and Kayli Stapelfeld — has taken on a teaching role with their younger teammates.
“We have girls who have played with the boys for the past 3-4 years and girls who played rec, maybe played middle school, maybe didn’t,” he said. “For quite a few of them, it’s their first time getting back into the swing of things. The talent disparity is something, for me as a coach, to kind of wade through and plan the best practices for everyone.”
The NHIAA’s pandemic adjustments should help. The association has adopted an open state tournament for soccer, so the Royals won’t have to qualify to participate. An Upper Valley-centric schedule could also help.
On the one hand, it leaves Mascoma with such daunting opponents as Hanover (two-time defending NHIAA D-II state champion), Sunapee (defending D-IV champ) and Stevens (D-III semifinalist last year). On the other, the Royals get to grow side-by-side with another rival, Newfound, that is also fielding its first varsity girls soccer team.
“We’ve played them in the past on the boys team, and the girls there have always been good,” Isham said. “They’ve been aggressive; they’ve been good to play. I’m looking forward to the opportunity to playing a new team. We’re in the same book as some other teams.”
More than anything else, however, Isham is grateful that her final high school soccer season will be spent with the girls.
“Don’t get me wrong; I loved playing with (the boys), I grew up playing with them,” the wing defender said. “But I think it’s a great opportunity to kind of show my own skills and show what us girls can actually do. … Graduating on a girls soccer team is something I’ve been waiting for for a while. I’m very lucky to have this opportunity.”
Greg Fennell can be reached at gfennell@vnews.com or 603-727-3226.