TYLER, TX (East Texas News) – A Tyler Legacy High School girls’ soccer player has been chosen to represent Honduras on its national team, marking a major milestone for the sophomore athlete.
Kersia Gómez said she’s thrilled about the chance to play for her father’s homeland.
“Honestly, I’m really excited to head to Honduras. It’s a lot of fun there, and I’ll be representing my father’s country, which is incredibly exciting,” Gómez said.
Gómez indicated she could take part in the upcoming World Cup qualifiers for the under-17 team.
“And now, hopefully in January, I’ll be going to the U-17 World Cup qualifiers. We don’t have dates yet, but I’m hopeful I can go,” she said.
Legacy’s girls soccer coach, Chris Woodard, said Gómez is the captain even though she’s only a sophomore, which he calls unusual for the program.
“She’s our captain, despite being a sophomore, and in 34 years I don’t think we’ve ever had a sophomore as captain,” Woodard said.
Woodard noted that Gómez demonstrates strong leadership traits and a solid work ethic.
“She’s a wonderful girl. She has intrinsic motivation. She’s the one who always sticks around after practice; she doesn’t need us to motivate her constantly,” he said. “That mindset rubs off on younger players, and we have a very tight-knit team, so they can relate to her. Having a sophomore captain has worked well for us, even though we’ve never done it before. It’s a unique situation.”
