Pair have credentials to lead Wildcats

The good old days, as far as Mt. Spokane High School seniors Chelsea Jones and Tiara Pittman are concerned, date back to their freshman year.

This season, they hope to lead the Wildcats back to the future.

Mt. Spokane finished one victory short of qualifying for its first girls state soccer tournament in 2004, when Jones and Pittman were rookies on a Wildcat team that included 10 seniors. Both of them remember that exciting experience.

“Freshman year was our biggest success on the field,” said Jones, who plays defender. “We came into a really successful program together, and even though it was nerve-racking, it was lots of fun.

“I remember that one of the first things I did was slide-tackle an older girl. I wasn’t real popular for a while after that, but it showed that I knew what I was doing,” Jones said.

Pittman, a forward and midfielder, remembers being intimidated before she got comfortable.

“I was scared because I was young and new,” she said. “But I looked up to the senior captains because they set good examples for me. So now, as a captain, I hope that I help the younger girls realize they need to work hard.”

Jones and Pittman are longtime best friends and have been club teammates for several years in addition to their four-year varsity experience at Mt. Spokane. They are headed in different directions next year, though, with Jones planning to attend Seattle University, while Pittman plays at Washington State University.

“That’s going to be weird,” Pittman said. “I’ve grown up with Chelsea. We’ve been best friends since fourth grade. I’m so used to playing with her that we always know where the other one is on the field. That really helps us and the team, too.”

The two hope they helped the Wildcats get things turned around last week in a 6-1 victory over Ferris, which had tied Mt. Spokane 0-0 two weeks earlier in a nonleague match between Greater Spokane League opponents.

The Wildcats are 1-2-1, after the victory in which Pittman scored her first two goals of the season.

Jones also was a captain last year. Coach Ryan Campanella always has two senior co-captains and one junior, who is selected by her peers and becomes a senior captain during the next season.

“Even as a sophomore,” said Campanella, “Chelsea was a dominant force on the back. I could tell right away that she was calm and collected.

“She made good passes under pressure, and she just doesn’t make mental mistakes. There aren’t many athletes in the GSL who can match her mental approach to the game.

“She really understands how to use her body defensively and is able to run down opposing forwards, but she plays offense like a center mid, and sometimes our attacks start with her.”

Pittman, who was selected as a senior captain after practices began this fall, has impressed Campanella from the beginning of the season.

“Her body language showed me that she wanted to be a captain,” he said. “Our second senior captain is picked by the coaches, last year’s junior captain and the other players. It comes down to ‘Who do we think is going to help lead us?’ Tiara was most-deserving.

“She dominates on the attack and always gets a lot of attention from defenders. Everybody we play likes to double-team her, so even if she’s not scoring, she’s helping our offense by freeing somebody else up,” Campanella said.

Both girls are looking forward to the responsibility of leading a young team.

“I really like our attitude this year,” said Jones. “We’re very young, with two freshmen and several sophomores, but the last few years here, the level of play has stayed high, and we’ve got tons of talent again.”

“My job is to stay positive with the younger players,” Pittmann added, “and to help them want to learn by watching the older girls play. A captain has to set a good example both on and off the field.”

There’s no question that’s what Campanella sees in both senior captains.

“Our captains have to have not only typical leadership and communication skills but also help me keep all the girls on the same wavelength during practices,” the coach said.

“Chelsea and Tiara do a great job – so good that sometimes the players respond better to them than to me.”