Jorge Medina started in the cage for the San Benito boys soccer
team his freshman year and has been stopping the toughest of shots
ever since.
”
I’ve just tried to work my way up,
”
Medina said.
”
I’ve spent a lot of practice working hard. I had a lot of things
to work on in my freshman year.
”
Jorge Medina started in the cage for the San Benito boys soccer team his freshman year and has been stopping the toughest of shots ever since.
“I’ve just tried to work my way up,” Medina said. “I’ve spent a lot of practice working hard. I had a lot of things to work on in my freshman year.”
The senior and his his younger brother Martin – who is also on the varsity team – moved to Hollister from Santa Maria about eight years ago. He has averaged about a goal per game during the last three years.
“When I first started playing soccer, I was playing defense then I went to forward,” Medina said. “First it was hard. It was weird just standing there. Sometimes I miss playing in the field, but I like playing goalie.”
“As a freshman, he was somewhat intimidated,” said Baler coach Michael Warner. “We had a senior-like team. He came along slowly. It took him a little while to fit in with the team. But in the second year he approached me and wanted to be captain and take on a bigger role.”
Medina received the captain’s position that second year and has held it ever since. He has pretty much started every game since except during a brief vacation time.
“Jorge has grown a lot and gotten more aggressive each year, coming out of the net, playing stronger and pushing the team,” Warner said.
Medina said he has tried to work on making sure everyone knows his assignments.
“The main thing I have to work on is talking to my defense,” Medina said. “That is often when we are at the disadvantage is when I don’t talk. I just try to tell them where they should be and who to cover.”
Most of the goals that do get by Medina are ones that are almost impossible to stop.
“Sometimes you receive shots you can’t see because it is too dark,” Medina said. “I am looking forward to playing in the stadium.”
Medina has been playing soccer for about 14 years. But he didn’t get his first taste of the goalie box until he got to Rancho San Justo Middle School. He played a little goalie for his recreation team as well.
When Medina came to San Benito High School four years ago, coach Warner was also in his first year as head coach and was looking to rebuild the program.
During Warner’s rookie year, he was faced with the choice of starting a senior goalie or going with someone younger he could mold and train. He went with the inexperienced Medina.
“There were two guys I had on the team that were both seniors who had played goalie the year before,” Warner said. “It didn’t make sense if I wanted to build the team to go with a senior goalie. We were a little short on players that year. The guy that would have been goalie turned out to be our leading scorer.”
Warner hopes to go with the youth movement next year as well. One of the leading candidates to take over when Medina graduates is freshman Eduardo Trujillo, the current JV goalie, Warner said.
