Sharon Day

Steve Virgen

When Sharon Day was an infant, Eugene and Yolanda knew they had an

athlete in the making. Not just an ordinary athlete, but a special

one.

Back then, Eugene and his wife, Yolanda, marveled at the display

of their daughter.

“We have some pictures when she was two years old,” Eugene said of

Sharon Day, the senior star on the Costa Mesa High girls soccer team.

“She had muscle tone in her body as if she were lifting weights. The

curves were there. You could see the body definition. I said, ‘You’re

going to be an athlete and you’re definitely going to be a good one.”

Day has met those expectations this year, or any of the past four

years. In an era which prep athletes specialize in one sport so to

find success, mainly earning a college scholarship, Day has excelled

in three sports: volleyball, soccer and track and field. She is the

reining CIF State champion in the high jump. She decided Tuesday she

will play soccer and compete in track and field at Cal Poly San Luis

Obispo.

So just how does Day explain her method of becoming one of Costa

Mesa’s greatest athletes?

“I think playing sports came naturally,” Day said. “I kind of got

good with it and stuck with it, and now I’m an athlete.”

Ho-hum. Day speaks with simplicity. She’s quiet, yet not passive.

She’s the essence of humility, even though her skills have elevated

her to star status. For all her attributes, the outstanding quality

that sets her apart from other athletes is her competitive desire,

the will to win.

Said Mesa Coach Dan Johnston, “When she gets her game face on you

know she is going to do something great. You can just see it.”

Through the Mustangs’ 18 games, Day, the Daily Pilot Athlete of

the Week, leads the team with 20 goals and 30 assists. Last week, she

scored one goal and three assists in Mesa’s 9-0 win over Westminster.

She followed that up with a three-goal, two-assist performance to

lead the Mustangs to a 7-0 victory over Santa Ana. She also scored

two goals and added three assists to guide Mesa to a 5-0 win over

Ocean View Wednesday.

Last year, Day was named Co-Most Valuable Player of the Pacific

Coast League. This season, owning sole possession of the award in the

Golden West League will be a practicality.

Day expected this season to be memorable. That comes with being a

senior. But there was also the fact that she would be playing with

her younger sister, Jasmin, a freshman. In addition, the Mustangs

were building off a successful season. Last year, Costa Mesa won its

first CIF playoff game in girls soccer.

This season, the Mustangs are ranked No. 2 in CIF Division III.

They are 9-0-0 in league and have outscored opponents, 60-3, in the

Golden West League.

“I want this season to be the best it can be, and it has been so

far,” said Day, who pointed out wins over Corona del Mar, Rosary, and

Aliso Niguel as evidence. “I love all my teammates. We have so much

fun on and off the field. We work so hard and we have so much fun

when we do it. Some other schools, their teams have drama and they

don’t get along, but we get along and we play well together.”

Day leads the Golden West League in goals and assists, but she

would be at the bottom if there was a section for celebrations.

Soccer is a game that carries great emotion, and when a goal is

scored, celebrations, especially game-winners, have become natural.

Not for Day.

“I’ve thought about (celebrating wildly),” Day said. “But it’s

just not me. That’s just the way I am. I’m not crazy like that. I’m

not like that on or off the field.”

It’s not about statistics, awards or compliments for Day. The game

is about winning and teamwork.

“She’s been a great team leader and a terrific playmaker,”

Johnston said. “She accounts for a lot of the possessions on the

50-50 balls. She does it all.”