For any and all teenagers, the transition from middle school to high school can be tough. New schedules, new teachers, and a host of new responsibilities can be a lot for a teenager to tackle.
Add on the task of varsity soccer? It can be too much.
That doesn’t seem to be the case for Blaine High School freshman Ruby Belarmino, who has burst onto the Northwest Conference (NWC) scene with 10 goals already during her first year playing for the Borderites.
Belarmino, who’s one of three freshmen named to Blaine’s opening day starting varsity roster, is leading the team in scoring, and is currently tied for fourth in goals in the conference.
Among the NWC top scorers, Belarmino is the only freshman with double-digit goals scored, and is behind only Lynden Christian senior Kayla Yun (12) for the lead among 1A players. The next highest freshman goal scorer this year is Ferndale’s Mia Collins, with six.
Belarmino credits the upperclassmen on the team for the fast start to her high school career, specifically mentioning junior midfielder Kate Koreski (Blaine’s second leading goal scorer with six).
“I just feel so welcomed by this team,” Belarmino said. “The upperclassmen treat me as if I’m at the same level as them and not as if I’m under them.”
Belarmino said her teammates have helped her adjust to the higher level of competition, and understand how to play in head coach Gio Quesada’s system.
“They’ve shown me how our coach wants soccer to be played, and they’ve helped me learn a new way of playing soccer,” Belarmino said. “Gio is one of the best coaches I’ve ever had. He knows the game so well, he’s lived the game and he loves coaching. He doesn’t find this a job at all, this is what he loves.”
Quesada, who has coached both boys and girls soccer teams at Blaine for years, said players like Belarmino only come around every once in a while.
“She’s hungry for a score,” Quesada said of the freshman striker. “She’s good and she has something different, but at the same time, the team sees the energy she puts out and tries to match her.”
A talented striker in Quesada’s classic 4-4-2 formation can be a game-changer. The Borderites are 5-9 on the season and are ranked second in the 1A postseason rankings with just a few regular season games remaining.
Belarmino said her goal and the team’s goal this season is the same: Win the 1A tournament and qualify for state.
Personally, Belarmino said her goal is to not put too much pressure on herself, while also performing at as high of a level as she knows she’s capable. That also applies for school and life, not just on the soccer field, she said.
“I think being my own advocate helps,” Belarmino said. “Like, making it known when I need help from a teacher and being able to go up and talk to them, that helps with keeping the stress off school so I can focus on soccer.”
Belarmino, who grew up in Blaine, recalls first playing soccer when she was just two years old, and hating it. Her father Raymond helped coach her next teams with Blaine Youth Sports, and she quickly fell in love. By the fifth grade, she joined Whatcom Rangers, the region’s premier select soccer club.
She first started as a goalkeeper – and still loves the position – but said once her coaches discovered how fast she was, she was quickly moved to wing and striker.
Quesada said that pedigree as a goalkeeper allows her to be a more effective striker.
“I think that helped,” Quesada said. “Being the goalkeeper, you see the whole field. Being the forward, you only see one-third. She understands how the keeper thinks.”
Looking back on 10 goals over a nearly complete regular season, Belarmino said her favorite moment was after her goal against Nooksack Valley at home on September 23. It wasn’t the amazing goal that made it her favorite memory – though Belarmino did seem to enjoy describing the one-touch missile from outside the penalty box – it was jumping into the arms of Koreski in celebration, then being mobbed by the rest of the team.
“It was one of the most beautiful goals I’ve ever taken in my life,” Belarmino recalled. “Then I look up and there’s Kate Koreski, I jumped up and she just held me.”
Now succeeding at the highest level in high school soccer, Belarmino hopes the Borderites can break through to the state tournament that has barely eluded them in recent years.
If the Borderites make it to the state tournament, Belarmino will surely be one of the reasons. She said she wouldn’t have had the personal success without her teammates, coaches, and parents, Chelsey and Raymond.
“I’m just so grateful that this sport was given to me as an opportunity,” Belarmino said. “I haven’t had a team like this and it’s just so amazing.”
