Signal Mountain girls’ soccer coach Pam Shelton will be relying heavily this year on “the ties that bind.”
Three sets of sisters are starting for the Lady Eagles this year, and they have aspirations of helping the third-year program make a deep postseason run.
The three sets of sisters are senior Kaitlin Robinson and junior Mary Meaghan, senior Lauren Blevins and sophomore Becca Blevins and junior Lila Fisher and eighth-grader Allwyn Fisher. Allywn is the only member who wasn’t a part of last season’s 10-6-1 team that was a District 7-A/AA semifinalist along with Chattanooga Christian and Notre Dame, both of whom advanced to the state tournament.
Signal Mountain is 2-0 with two shutout victories this year.
“I think we’ve had an OK start to the season,” Kaitlin Robinson said. “We’ve had some good games and some not so good so far, but I think we’ve been working hard and we’ll do pretty good.”
Said Lauren Blevins: “It’s been predicted that we’re going to do well, and these last two games have been kind of foreshadowing more to come.”
Sibling rivalry could play a part with the sisters, but Shelton said that hasn’t been a problem at all. Lauren jokingly stated that “80 percent of all of the fights between sisters revolve around clothing.”
“If anything, they ride each other more than anybody else,” Shelton said. “They’re much harder on each other, and I think that challenges them to do better.”
The team has adopted a slogan – “Swagga Like Us” – and hopes to develop the sort of “swag” that will build confidence throughout the team. To take the next step, the Lady Eagles must overcome CCS or Notre Dame – or both.
“They have that reputation in Chattanooga as being the best,” Shelton said, “and we think we’re up there, but we have to prove it for real.
“We’re not cocky. We just realize we’re good, but we know we’re going to have to show it on the field.”