Ready to Win a Trophy!

Jaime+Bautista+and+Dion+Idrizi+warming+up+before+a+match

Jaime Bautista and Dion Idrizi warming up before a match

When it comes to Wyoming High School Athletics, we always excel at soccer, or as many call it, football. We’ve been able to compete with great schools, but have fallen short in previous years. The last time our school won a conference championship was in 2013. That’s nearly 9 years, but we play solid teams. Next season is close, and the players and coach[s] want to do everything they can to finally accomplish their goals.

Current juniors and soon-to-be seniors, Jaime Bautista and Dion Idrizi have played soccer their whole life, working and progressing through blood, sweat, and tears. They know what it’s like to win and what it’s like to lose. Both Jaime and Dion have played together for a long time as well, having chemistry like nobody else. They are leaders when it comes to the game, pushing others to be the greatest they can be. It’s because they want to win.

I was planning on writing an article about soccer but I didn’t know what it should contain. After talking to Jaime, he had the idea for me to write this. So I did. I set up an interview with Jaime and Dion during lunch and they were more than happy to share their thoughts.

I started my interview by asking a big question. I wondered what Jaime and Dion’s goals were next year. “Our goal is to win conference and districts, we wanna go for it all. There’s no holding back because it’s gonna be our senior year.” Jaime passionately responds but is also very real. I turn to Dion and he quickly goes off of Jaime, “Yeah our banner in the gym is really empty and we don’t like it like that.” he exclaims. Those are true and real feelings to have. It’s tough to stay motivated when you don’t win trophies, but they’re not afraid. Jaime goes on to talk about returning and leaving players. “The culture will be the same. We’ll have like five players returning, but we’ll miss the seniors. It’ll be a tough year, but we get the memo.” Jaime and Dion are looking to keep the same energy moving forward, trying to take advantage of anything they can.

One important question is “how will the incoming sophomores and freshmen impact the team” Dion’s excited to see his little brother Milot play. “I’m not sure if he’ll play but I definitely have high hopes for him.” It’s exciting to see the possibility of brothers playing together. That could be the second sibling duo on the team. Twins Brian and Brandon Gomez are also on the team as well. “We’re excited but once we (Jaime and Dion) are gone, there’ll be a huge deficit,” Jaime responds with concern but hope. “They’ll (Freshman) have the opportunity to get that varsity experience” Dion responds.

Dion will continue to play Center-Mid, Center-defensive-mid, and Center-attacking-mid. Jaime is looking to “fill” the center back position. He’s played Left and Right back before, but is doing what he can to make the team better. “The 4-4-2 formation includes a lot of change,” Dion says. Next year will be the last season Wyoming Athletics compete in the current OK-Green Conference alignment, playing Zeeland East & West, Muskegon, Mona Shores, Reeths-Puffer, Union, and Holland. I had to ask Jaime and Dion which teams will still be challenged next year. “Mona Shores definitely. They have some MLS-NEXT players, so it was rough. We wanna give them a huge upset.” Jaime said. “Although we were losing, it was cool to see that they were still worried after halftime,” Dion added on.

Although everyone on the team is close, the team still misses something important, according to Jaime and Dion. “Our communication is all over the place. Gotta get that final pass.” Jaime responded. Dion continued, “We don’t have a good attitude during training.” Small but big things to change before next season. Jaime went off of that using the metaphor of being “loose cannons” during training.

I asked if Jaime or Dion had any last comments and they didn’t disappoint. They both want to know where the fans are at? Dion’s frustrated. He’s upset that everybody goes to the football games. Every time he goes “it’s very busy” “They lost every game this year” “There were only like 3 moms at our games.” Dion quotes. Jaime continues saying that “we’re the better boys team” while Dion fires again “especially because we WIN GAMES!” They want to get their point across because they are not going to “hold back.”

Jaime and Dion both want to play the best they can in districts, especially against Rockford. Rockford finished pretty high in the state, winning districts and regionals. I asked Jaime a more direct question, wondering how hard it is to play defense against a team like Rockford or Mona Shores. He responds in a very real way, “once you get scored on, you think it’s your fault. But you have players like Dion and Brandon Gomez who tell you to pick your head up.” they continue to keep balling and being “physical.”

My last question to finish the interview was wondering who would play goalie after Fabian Rodriguez graduates. Jaime and Dion think that Jose or a sophomore will fill his shoes. Fabian was a really versatile player, but we won’t know until next year how much they’ll miss him.

That completed the interview. Jaime and Dion were nice to interview and they’re excited about the next soccer season. No words describe how dedicated they are to win a trophy. I’m excited to see if the team can engrave “2023” into the banners forever!