MOHAVE COUNTY – The inaugural season of Mohave Community College Men’s Soccer is nearly here. With the first regular season matchup slated for Aug. 22 at Northwest College, the time has finally come for Bighorn fans to show their spirit as the first men’s collegiate athletic program in the county takes to the pitch.
Athletic Director and Men’s Head Coach Camilo Valencia says bringing the inaugural season to fruition has been quite the endeavor, and was made possible by the College’s many partners and supporters. That includes the Bighorns Athletics Booster Club, Bullhead City, the Legacy Foundation, the Mohave Community College Foundation and more, including College staff. Donations of time, effort and resources were instrumental in launching the soccer programs.
“I am extremely thankful to everyone and honored to have this opportunity here at Mohave Community College,” Valencia says. “There are still a lot of things to do and tune up but we are ready to compete and help transform lives through athletics.”
Training for the Bighorns is set to begin in August. Valencia says staff secured solid recruits for the upcoming season and that he’s excited to see what they’re capable of come August.
“You always think you have a good team but you won’t know until they show up,” he says. “We have recruited mature, responsible guys. Our hope is that they have put in the work through the summer and are ready to come in and compete right away. The focus is to set and maintain high standards so that our organization can succeed. We will find out a lot about ourselves in the first couple of training sessions. We need to learn how to find balance between the excitement of a first-year program with the responsibility of representing the people of Mohave County.”
Valencia says his players are certainly excited to represent Mohave County in collegiate play in addition to the excitement that comes with making the inaugural men’s team.
“Get ready for a 12-week rollercoaster,” he says. “We will work each and every day with passion and enthusiasm. They should expect a team that will refuse to do anything but give their all.”
The Bighorns will begin their regular-season play on Aug. 22 as they hit the road to take on Northwest College.
“The match against Northwest College will be our first opportunity to test ourselves as a program against National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) competition,” Valencia says. “They had a successful season last year with double-digit wins and very good results against tough competition in Region 9. It will always be hard to play on the road, but traveling is part of the student-athlete experience that we want to give our guys, and we are very excited to get to Wyoming and show what we can do.”
Then, come Aug. 30, the Bighorns will play their first-ever home game at Rotary Park’s Firebird Field in Bullhead City. Firebird Field is currently undergoing the process of being renamed.
“Our first-ever home game should be one to remember,” Valencia says. “It will be a celebration of the hard work and dedication of many people that contributed to starting athletics at Mohave Community College. We will be playing against Colorado Northwestern out of the Scenic West Athletic Conference (SWAC) and Region 18, one of the toughest regions in the country. It will be a great first taste of NJCAA soccer action for our fans and community.”
