BY GREG LUCA | STAFF WRITER
MISSION — Coming into her senior season, Sharyland High’s Nikki Gonzalez was hoping for a shot at All-Valley Player of the Year.
Gonzalez is used to All-Valley honors, taking home Defensive Player of the Year in 2013 and landing on the All-Valley first team in 2014. But as the season went on, she said she had doubts about her candidacy, especially as a defensive player vying for an award typically given to the Valley’s top scorer. Regardless, due to her shutdown defending, precious insight and leadership skills helping Sharyland High to the regional tournament, Gonzalez fulfilled her goal and claimed All-Valley Player of the Year for the 2015 season.
“When coach told me MVP, I was like, ‘Wait, is it overall, or is it defensive?’” Gonzalez said. “Because since I’m a defensive player, I would have expected the MVP to be an offensive player. But I’m really proud of myself that I got the overall MVP.”
Looking back on the season, Gonzalez and coach Aaron Clemons don’t remember how many goals she scored. Probably somewhere in the 8 or 10 range. The number is hardly an indicator of what Gonzalez brought to the Rattlers.
Clemons said he used Gonzalez “everywhere but goalie” this year. Also an assistant football coach, Clemons compared Gonzalez to NFL great Deion Sanders because of her ability to take away any opposing player or area of the field with speed and anticipation.
When Sharyland High was having trouble shutting down Sharyland Pioneer’s Andrea Reyes, Gonzalez volunteered to shift to her side.
“I knew, when she did that, that young lady wasn’t going to be a threat to us, because Nikki was going to play shutdown,” Clemons said. “That’s what happened.”
Gonzalez often had a hand in those decisions, frequently joining Clemons and his assistant coach to game plan. Gonzalez had four years of experience with Sharyland High and the team’s opponents, while Clemons was in his first season after coming over from Mission High.
“She’ll watch film and she’ll be able to come up with, ‘This is their weakness, coach,’” Clemons said. “‘This is where we need to attack.’ Anytime you have a player like that, who is that knowledgeable of the game, it is truly an asset for your team.”
Gonzalez was also critical because of her leadership. As a senior with four years of experience on a team with just two returning starters, Gonzalez shared her memories of advancing to the regional finals in 2012, driving her teammates to try to hit that mark again.
“My main goal was to push them and make them have discipline and work hard enough so we could get them to the regional tournament,” Gonzalez said. “We wanted to get this team at least to the regional tournament, so they could know what it feels like to be there.”
With that goal in mind, Gonzalez said she was “really strict” with the younger players during the preseason, even if it caused a little friction.
Clemons said he saw Gonzalez always trying to “inspire everybody.” He watched her give the same attention to every player on the roster, regardless of age or role, calling her the “ultimate team player.”
One of the Rattlers’ freshmen, Kaitie Watson, went on to become the All-Valley Newcomer of the Year.
“(Gonzalez) definitely pushed us to work as hard as we could,” Watson said. “I don’t think we would’ve gone as far if we didn’t have leaders like Nikki.”