By ROY HESS | THE BROWNSVILLE HERALD
Having played a variety of sports growing up, soccer is the one that is now taking Kasandra Jimenez to college.
The senior athletic and academic standout for Brownsville Veterans Memorial signed a scholarship agreement Thursday afternoon at the campus library to play her favorite sport of soccer next school year at the University of Houston-Victoria.
Since she was a young girl, Jimenez has participated in soccer, volleyball, basketball, kickball and track, among other sports. In high school, she’s focused exclusively on soccer and volleyball, earning all-district honors in both sports despite suffering serious injuries as a junior and as a senior.
“I think I’ve played everything (growing up) except softball,” she said.
On Thursday there was a roomful of family members, teammates, coaches, teachers and other Brownsville ISD personnel on hand for the signing. Jimenez’s act of putting her signature on the scholarship agreement was met with an enthusiastic round of heart-felt applause by those in attendance.
“This (signing) feels really awesome and I’m very excited,” said Jimenez, who earned all-state academic honors last fall in volleyball for having maintained a 94-plus grade-point average since she was a freshman.
In soccer, Jimenez missed substantial time after suffering injuries halfway through both her junior and senior seasons. This year, she hasn’t played since being sidelined by a broken wrist on Feb. 9. She was concerned UHV wouldn’t want to sign her after her latest injury, but the Jaguars came through with a scholarship.
“It’s been tough not playing (soccer), especially since it’s my senior year,” said Jimenez, a four-year starter in volleyball and soccer who plans to study education and biology in college with a desire to become a coach. “I got hurt and
I was a little scared that the coaches (at UHV) weren’t going to want me anymore, but they said it was fine. They knew the injury involved my wrist and that I would recover soon.
“I never lost faith because I always knew what I wanted to do,” Jimenez added. “My college has been really good about it and they’ve been staying in touch with me (to see how I was doing).”
Jimenez was coached in volleyball by Lisa Mares and in soccer by Luis Troncoso. Both coaches said Jimenez’s attributes as an athlete and as a student should lead her to success in college and life.
“Unfortunately (due to her injury situations) we haven’t been able to have Kasandra in the lineup as much as we’d like,” said Troncoso, whose Lady Chargers go against Sharyland High at 7 p.m. today in Mission in the Class 5A bi-district playoffs. “She came in as a freshman, gained confidence and made an impact for us. She’s been a utility player for us and even played some at goalkeeper. She played (mostly) defense this year.
“It’s great to see players (like Kasandra) in our program grow on and off the field,” Troncoso added. “She can play pretty much anywhere on the field. She’s just an all-around player who is great on defense and can score goals and make assists. She could even start at goalkeeper. Having players like her on our team is just a luxury.”
Added Mares, who also coached Jimenez for four years, “Kasandra is an athlete who loves to compete. On the court (or the soccer field) you can tell she’s a competitor. Sometimes at practice she’d cry (because she didn’t think she was playing all that well). That’s the kind of person and athlete she is. She has that mentality of being a (fierce) competitor.”