Donna North’s Anahi Banda does not let any obstacles interfere when it comes to playing soccer. Banda made sure that the injuries that she surpassed through her high school career would not get in the way with her new biggest commitment, which is extending her soccer career with Ranger College in Ranger, Texas. She officially signed early July in the safety of her home due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I am so excited to continue to grow as a person and as an athlete,” Banda said. “I always had the motivation and drive to play college soccer and I worked hard to get here.”
Banda set her mind to play college soccer when she was a freshman. She saw her teammate, Esmeralda Meza, who was a senior when Banda was a freshman, sign to play with Paris Junior College.
“Ever since I saw her sign, I told myself that I wanted to do that also,” Banda said. “So I practiced every day and kept in touch with her asking her for advice on how I can be able to reach this goal of mine.”
Banda started playing soccer when she was in eight grade and only joined to spend time with her friends.
“Surprisingly I made the varsity team as a freshman,” Banda said. “Which is pretty cool because the only motive I had to start playing soccer was to hang out with my friends and I did not know that I was going to end up liking it this much.”
The Summer before her sophomore year, Banda was approached by her teammates dad, Alfonso Aviles who is a head coach for a soccer traveling team called “McAllen Sharks.”
“He asked me if I wanted to be a part of his traveling team,” Banda said. “We traveled to San Antonio, Houston and Corpus Christi to play with different groups of girls, which made me more competitive.”
Banda was only part of the McAllen Sharks for a year before she started focusing on the Donna North’s soccer team.
“We had a great year as a team my sophomore year,” Banda said. “We made it up to round three in the playoffs and I wanted to keep that same momentum and motivation for us, we had it this year playoff opportunity before we had to cut it short because of the virus.”
The Donna North girls soccer team had an overall record of 16-9-1 and district record of 9-2 in the 2020 season and tied for first place with Edinburg’s Robert Vela, coming out as co-district champs.
“It was very sudden that our season ended,” Banda said. “We were looking good and we were very excited to reach the playoffs. I at least wanted to have the All-Star game, but that did not happen either.”
Banda is using this time to recover from her injuries that occurred during her sophomore year and beginning of her senior year.
“I sprained my right ankle during my sophomore year,” Banda said. “It took me a while for it to get better and till this day, it honestly still hurts. Then my senior year, I sprained my left ankle and was out in the beginning of the soccer season, luckily I got better by district. Having two sprained ankles really made it difficult for me but I am slowly healing.”
Banda was awarded with 32-5A All-District Honorable mention her freshman and sophomore year, 31-6A All-District second team and Donna North’s Most Improved Player her junior year and 31-6A First Team All-District her senior year.
“I am very happy with her (Anahi Banda) accomplishments,” Head Coach Tony Garcia said. “Her work ethic has gone a long way for Anahi, she had very minimum experience when she started with us and as years progressed she got better and better.”
As a freshman, Banda received minimum playing time but gradually increased throughout the years.
“Her dedication and hard work got to where she is right now,” Coach Garcia said. “She was that type of player that always wanted to play no matter what. When she got hurt her senior year, she was out in our own home tournament that we host here. She kept telling me she was ready but I wanted her to get better first before anything.”
The Donna North girls soccer team has been active for seven years. The team has had five playoff appearances, appeared two times in the third-round of playoffs, and have been three times district champions within the seven years, all with Coach Garcia being head coach.