Written by Chris O’Dell
Senior Minnie Guzman is one of three seniors on the Lady Bison soccer team. Guzman is also one of the rare Lady Bisons to begin her freshman season on the team and play all four years for the program. However, the Lewisville, Texas., native not only stayed true to her team, she also became the leader of the Lady Bison soccer program.
“These past four years on the team have really helped me realize how much God has blessed me with a talent and how he wants me to take it and do good with it,” Guzman said.
Guzman said each year’s freshman class for the Lady Bisons begins with a good number of girls. However, four years later there might only be four or five senior girls left on the team.
“These four to five girls are the ones who truly want to be there to help this program and to see it succeed even when they are gone,” Guzman said.
The 5-foot-tall midfielder was a 2006 and 2007 first-team All-GSC selection, and received second-team All-GSC honors last season for the Lady Bisons.
“My junior year was the toughest,” she said. “We had lost so many key players and did not gain enough talent to keep us on our feet. This year was definitely a step forward and not back. I learned a lot about how much can change in a short amount of time.”
The Lady Bisons are currently 3-10-3 overall, with a 1-4-1 record in the Gulf South Conference. However, despite a .281 win percentage, Guzman said she believes the season was a successful one.
“We definitely improved from last year, but our record did not show how we really did,” Guzman said. “We lost many games where we had the ball on their half of the field almost the whole game but could not score. So it was frustrating because we knew we should have beaten the other team.”
With a young team this season and more experience next year, the Lady Bisons will look to finish off the close games in 2010. However, with Guzman graduating after this season, the team will have to replace perhaps the most valuable player on the team in recent years.
“The team is for sure in a rebuilding stage,” Guzman said. “We only have two other seniors on the team, and we did not have any girls that were older than me for a couple of years.”
Guzman was persuaded to come to Harding by her brother Odie, who also played soccer at Harding. She said she wanted to play soccer at a Division-I school, but after visiting Harding was sure this was the place for her.
“I have been blessed to work with some of the younger soccer players here in Searcy,” Guzman said. “And being able to help them appreciate their talent has warmed my heart and helped me realize that I need to be a good example to those children.”
Although Guzman’s career as a Lady Bison soccer player is winding down, the senior leader knows the team is in good hands with head soccer coach Gregg Harris.
“Coach Harris is a totally different coach than any of the other coaches I have had in my entire soccer career,” Guzman said. “He not only wants you to be a good soccer player, but he also wants you to be a strong Christian.”
Harris might also have the players he needs to help the program get back to its winning ways.
“There is so much talent on this team and I have a lot of faith in them,” Guzman said.
