CHS9 forward Neerali Kapadia has been putting up big numbers into her first season as a varsity player with four goals and seven assists so far in the season. Kapadia started playing at age 4 after playing with her brother, Coppell High School junior Manav Kapadia, and is already proving that she has what it takes to compete at a high level.

What has the transition to high school and varsity been like?

Definitely a lot more physical but it’s been fun. We’re playing against seniors and club soccer has just been girls my age so they’re a lot bigger and stronger. It’s my first high school season, so I’m definitely a lot more sore because I’m playing more games than I’m used to. If my body is hurting I sit and rest for a bit. It’s just knowing my body and knowing what I need to do to make sure I’m ready for games.

What’s the biggest game you’ve ever played in?

For [Sting Black club], we were in the semifinals for a regional tournament and it was a close game. We were fighting hard, went to penalties, won and got to go to the finals. It was great, it was in Houston in the summer so it was really hot, but all of us ran to the last person to kick the penalty in and gave her a hug. It’s always a great feeling when you’re playing in a tournament and you win the finals, that’s probably one of my favorite memories. My favorite memory this season was when I scored my first goal. We were playing in this tournament and I just dribbled a couple players and then shot it. I didn’t think it was going to go in but when it did everyone ran to me and gave me a hug and it just felt really good. Everyone was so happy and it was a good moment. The game before that tournament [was the most difficult]. It was Houston and it was summertime so it was really hot and we still had to play. We were up 2-1 so it was a thin lead but we just had to hold on to it and keep going. We were all thinking about how we had gone all the way to Houston so we’ve got to hold onto this, we’re not going to lose our first game, we have to push through it.

How do you keep yourself motivated before and during a game?

It’s fun, everyone hypes everyone up and it’s exciting. We all get there and we listen to a song together in the locker room and we warm up and do pregame talks. It’s been a tradition for several years. I had to ask somebody because I wasn’t expecting that in my first game. They said it’s been here for so many years and it’s just been something Coppell girls soccer has always done. It’s a song called shots and it has a really upbeat tempo. We’re all just trying to motivate each other and get into the mindset of ‘hey, we’re gonna do this and we’re gonna do it for each other.’ Sometimes when we’ve lost a couple games it’s hard to keep going but you know you have to keep going for your team. If you’re doing badly it’s hard to stay engaged but you gotta keep going always. I just think even if we lose this game we have to do it with some dignity, we can’t just lose 5-0, we need to make it a close game and do the best we can.

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