Coaches will often tell their players, in order to continue
playing at the college level, all you have to do is impress one
person. In Hannah Cobb’s case, though, she had to impress two
different people. The senior midfielder from the San Benito High
girls’ soccer team signed a letter of intent last Monday to attend
Cal State Monterey Bay next year, after a lengthy courting process
that involved two verbal commitments.
HOLLISTER
Coaches will often tell their players, in order to continue playing at the college level, all you have to do is impress one person.
In Hannah Cobb’s case, though, she had to impress two different people.
The senior midfielder from the San Benito High girls’ soccer team signed a letter of intent last Monday to attend Cal State Monterey Bay next year, after a lengthy courting process that involved two verbal commitments.
“I liked the area. I like being near the beach and I just wanted to continue playing soccer,” Cobb said of CSUMB.
As for the proximity to Hollister?
“That helped, too,” she added. “I didn’t want to be seven hours away down south or anything.”
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But named Midfielder MVP in the Tri-County Athletic League last season, as well as receiving a first-team distinction and sportsmanship honors, Cobb’s commitment process may have been different from others.
She had verbally committed to Cal State Monterey Bay in December, and was set to continue playing soccer for at least the next four years, which was her overall goal all along.
In other words, she had impressed the right person.
But when the team’s then head coach, Artie Cairel, was let go just two months later, Cobb’s verbal commitment was suddenly left up in the air.
In other words, she had to make another impression.
“I had to try out twice,” she said.
Keeping in contact with some of the assistants who remained on the coaching staff at CSUMB, Cobb stayed in touch with the school she wanted to attend, but also looking elsewhere — just in case.
It was in April when Monterey Bay hired Erin Reinke to the girls’ soccer helm, replacing Cairel, and a tryout among 24 players took place just a few weeks later.
Cobb attended, and was one of just six players from the tryout who Reinke selected.
“I probably had a [better] chance than the girls who hadn’t tried out before, but I still had to go try out,” said Cobb, who made a second verbal commitment last Saturday before putting pen to paper to CSUMB on Monday.
The Otters went just 3-15 last season, but have an experienced incoming coach in Reinke, who previously played at Arizona State and in the Elite Division in Denmark, and who also coached at Long Beach State and Cal Poly Pomona, where she spent the last three years as an assistant.
“I think she’s really knowledgeable,” Cobb said of Reinke, whose prior background is in coaching defense and goalies. In fact, Reinke is the career leader in saves and shutouts at Arizona State, where she started four years for the Sun Devils.
“She just has a lot of experience and she has some really good ideas,” Cobb added. “I’m excited to play for her.”
Having played soccer since she was just 5, Cobb has been part of a competitive team for the last nine years, including the last three with Morgan Hill’s Orchard Valley Sting, where she competed with San Benito teammates Nicole Yost, Daniela Ocampo, Kaitlyn Fontaine and Sara Yamasaki.
Yamasaki recently signed a letter of intent as well to Cal State East Bay, which just so happens to be on Monterey Bay’s 2011 schedule.
“It will be weird because I’ve always played (with her) on the same team,” Cobb said.
It was with the Sting where Cobb realized she wanted to continue playing soccer in college, though. After playing with the Hollister Tremors organization up until her freshman year in high school, Cobb made the switch to the Morgan Hill team the following year, and acquired an increased interest in the sport that extended beyond high school.
“When I went to a different competitive team my sophomore year, it was at that point when we started going to college showcases,” she said. “It became more of a priority, that I wanted to play in college, and that helped me a lot to get that exposure.”
Cobb’s sophomore year also saw a noticeable uptick in play while competing for the Balers. After scoring five goals in limited minutes her freshman year for San Benito, she deposited 23 goals during her sophomore campaign and was named Offensive MVP in the TCAL.
“Freshman year I didn’t play a lot. But sophomore year was pretty positive,” Cobb said.
The momentum didn’t swing into her junior season, however. Cobb suffered a torn MCL midway through the year against Gilroy, and didn’t play another game for the remainder of the season. Her eight goals scored through the first half of the year was still enough to place her second overall on the team, though.
“Not playing for two months was hard because I had been playing year-round,” she said. “It was scary coming back because you’re not supposed to be as strong as you were. But I think I came back stronger, actually.”
Named one of the team’s captains for the second year in a row, Cobb moved to the midfield her senior season where she gained MVP honors in the TCAL, and was also named MVP of the team, as voted on by the players.
The accolades and hard work that came with playing year-round — Cobb and her Orchard Valley teammates recently finished runner-up in the 2011 State Cup in Sacramento — clearly paid off for the soon-to-be graduate of SBHS.
At the very least, she’s impressed enough of the right people.
“It’s been my passion for a long time,” Cobb said of soccer. “I wanted to keep playing, no matter what.”
