I had a wonderful time meeting with one of Butte’s strong women athletes. Essence Flores, a freshman on Butte’s women’s soccer team, gave me the opportunity to interview her.
Flores plays a center middle position. This position is a little different then her most played position of middle forward. However, Flores really enjoys the change and is learning a little more about soccer throughout the switch.
She has been playing soccer for about 9–10 years now. She really started playing in 8th grade and hasn’t stopped since then. Flores has been on two teams before Butte: Cabrillo High School, located in Santa Barbara, where she played as a freshman, and Paradise High School, where she continued for the rest of her high school soccer career. She has also played on several club teams, including La Esperanza, Sac United, and Chico Cal Aftershock.
Flores believes her team has a lot of potential this year. She’s proud of how her team reflected on their performance at the beginning of the year, and how much they have improved as result. She claims they became more connected during the process.
Flores says, “The girls are really supportive. You can go and talk to anyone on the team and not feel judged or like you’re an inconvenience. Everyone supports everyone on the team, and it’s just really nice.” She loves how friendly everyone is.
Flores is currently studying biology with the end goal of entering the medical field and becoming an obstetrician. She is between transferring to either Chico State or UC Davis, but mainly leaning towards UC Davis. When asked if she plans to continue playing soccer after transferring Flores responds with, “I’m looking into it. It’s not a given, but, I mean, if the opportunity’s there, I’ll take it.”
