Most sports fans only get close enough to their favorite team to watch a game. However, junior Amanda NeSmith is invovled in every move of her family’s newly purchased professional women’s soccer team, named FC Gold Pride.
Last August, the NeSmith family bought the team, and each member of the family, including Amanda, owns an equal share of the team.
According to Amanda’s mother, Nancy NeSmith, the family has always been soccer crazy since both of her daughters fell in love with the sport at early ages.
“We have been part of the soccer community for the past 15 years,” NeSmith said. “[With] both my daughters playing club and at Los Altos High school, we’re kind of soccer fanatics, so when the opportunity came up, we just kind of jumped at it.”
According to Amanda, the team has brought about nothing but positive experiences for the family.
“It’s really fun,” Amanda said. “At first, I was a little nervous because I thought there was going to be a lot of pressure and things for me to do, but because my whole family is doing it, it’s nice because we can talk about everything together.”
The team is headed by the school’s varsity girls soccer coach’s husband, Albertin Montoya. It is expected to do well in the upcoming season starting on Sunday, April 5.
Though Montoya keeps his mind centered on the team’s performance over the course of the upcoming season, the quality of the players’ experiences on the team also ranks highly on his list of priorities.
With regards to the NeSmiths, Montoya explains that he and his wife have been close with the family for years, having coached Sarah, Amanda’s older sister who graduated in ‘08, for seven years and Amanda for five years.
“[The NeSmiths are] wonderful, giving people opportunities all the time, and [are] really always there, willing to help out in any way possible,” Montoya said. “They’re extremely generous with their time and incredible friends to everyone that knows them.”
In addition to being supportive emotionally, the NeSmith family has also put a large amount of effort in shaping the team to its highest potential.
“[The NeSmiths] contribute a big way in that they put the team together and hired the staff and everyone involved,” Montoya said. “They definitely play a major role in bringing in the best staff possible so we can be successful.”
However, the NeSmiths’ hard work does not only serve to benefit the team—the experience has been just as enjoyable and profitable for the family as a whole.
“I’m actually glad I get to do something as productive in my [free] time,” Amanda said. “It’s given me more opportunities to do things that I probably wouldn’t have been able to do if my parents never bought the team. …It’s a really fun and different experience that I am just glad I’m able to participate in.”