Haley Bonitatibus plays her heart out
By: Sydney McClaine
Staff Writer
Haley Bonitatibus: Liberal Arts major, freshman, and most prominently a Viking with a passion for soccer that could inspire anybody. She’d started playing around 8 years old and ever since the sport’s significance in her life only grew alongside the ups, the downs, and team bonding in between.
“I’m not really sure how I got into it… my parents pushed me to strive to be the best I can be, to go out there and do all this new stuff and that was the one thing I actually listened to them about.” She explained,
“I just have a passion for it; a passion I don’t have for anything else. Soccer drives me to be a better person- I actually push myself to be better because of soccer. I want good grades so I can stay on the team, I want to do certain things physically so I can get better. And if I can do the smallest thing to improve myself as an individual, I can benefit my team.”
The passion she holds for the sport is overwhelming. To see it as more than just a hobby, as an extension of who she is and to use it as motivation for other aspects of her life shows how dedicated she is. Though that dedication can be bittersweet when it comes to the setbacks that are out of her control.
“I have an alignment issue, so a lot of my bones are out of place and do things I don’t want them to do. I would love to pursue a career and I would love to get better and continue to play soccer from here on out but I don’t see it going as far as I want it to due to my health.
The first game of this season I strained my quad and I’ve been playing still. Our last game was our first loss, we’re now 6 in 1. We lost against Mohawk Valley. Throughout the season I have been struggling to keep my quad from getting torn worse. That game didn’t go so well for it, I was in an unbearable amount of pain- to the point where I was balling my eyes out.”
Being the strong-willed person who refuses to let her pain get to her that she is, it shows how difficult pushing an injury truly is. And to not let even that stop her is proof of how determined she is to play through as much as she physically can. But there is one thing that will always help her to keep pushing through the worst of it- her team.
“This team is by far the most individually and all-around skilled team I’ve ever worked with. I’m honored to play with the girls that I do. They are so much more than a team to me, I deem everybody on that team very close and I think it’s awesome that we started off the season with such amazing chemistry and such talent.” That chemistry and mutual support is what carries through to the rare losses- and seemingly turns them into much more than that.
“Although the last game was upsetting, we look at that as a chance to get better. We don’t see it and get mad, our spirits are always high. We’re trying to get better because of this and we’re learning from our mistakes- we’re only going up baby.” said Bono.
“Being on this team I wouldn’t say there’s one moment that stands out above the rest because being around my team it’s always laughs and messing around, there’s no one moment- they’re all the highlight of the day. I couldn’t say there’s one story that stands out it’s just the chemistry and being around them, it’s the vibe.”
And back to the team itself, going into the last game they were 8th in the state- the second time the Hudson Valley women’s soccer team has been placed in the top ten for our region in the entire country.
“That loss was obviously a big setback for us, but also I think that going into the rest of the season we can’t let our skill and our record of beating every team we play -12-0- get to our heads. We’re probably gonna get bumped out of the top ten, I think we are- but that will change I assure you and you will see us at nationals.”
That kind of confidence proves that we have a team that whose skill is unquestionable. The kind of skill that is necessary in games of the near future; like on September 26 at 2:00pm- an away game at Herkimer.
“We have a game against Herkimer which is currently first in the country in our division. Everything we’ve been doing is working up to that game as we know it will be a tough game. But I know my team, and I know how strong we are both as a team and as individuals. I think that with the hardest work and dedication we can beat Herkimer.
I believe we can I know we have the skill, but soccers not just skill- it’s a mental game. So the mentality affects us, we have to learn how to come back from losing as this is our first loss and use that drive to get better as a team; and to hopefully regain our position in the top ten and kick Herkimer’s butt.”