Giving everything she had: Paz named top girls soccer player

Published 12:46 pm Monday, May 23, 2016

DALTON, Ga. — The conditions didn’t matter. Her own physical well-being was inconsequential. The one thing that was certain was that Northwest Whitfield senior Nancy Paz was going to give everything she had to help her team.

Paz was a captain this year for the Lady Bruins and helped lead them to a fourth consecutive trip to the state tournament, the longest such streak of any team in the area. She’s known by her coaches and teammates as a tireless worker, often staying after practice to work out in the weight room.

And in one of the biggest games of the season against Southeast Whitfield, when her own body was fighting against her, she still did everything she could to go out there to try to help the team win the game.

That spirit and determination drove her throughout her high school career, but she’s not just a hard worker. She’s also very skilled, evidenced by her 12 goals and eight assists in 2016. As a central midfielder she controlled every aspect of the game for Northwest and made her presence known at all times.

For her efforts, Paz has been selected as The Daily Citizen’s girls soccer All-Area Player of the Year.

She is joined on the All-Area team by her teammates Vanessa Lara and Natalie Tapia, Coahulla Creek’s Rachael Larsen, Selina Vazquez-Agundiz and Lynne Wright, North Murray’s Nevada Colter and Veronica Miranda and Southeast Whitfield’s Sydney Covington, Melisa Fraire and Tania Lopez.

Having her body not cooperate with her fierce passion for the game is an issue that Paz has had to overcome before. In her junior season, also against Southeast Whitfield, Paz collapsed near midfield during the game. She says she suffered a heat stroke and although further tests did not reveal any worrisome conditions, it was still a frightening experience.

“Something about my heart rate went down and I collapsed and then it came back up really fast,” Paz recalled. “It was scary, I’d never experienced anything like that. I went to the cardiologist and they said everything was normal, that is was just a heat stroke and I panicked and that’s what got to me.”

She returned to the field three games later and still finished the 2015 season with 11 goals and six assists despite the time she missed. She was selected to the spring sports All-Area team and was a honorable mention in 2014.

Unfortunately, her troubles against Southeast weren’t finished. Northwest coach David Huynh recalls receiving a troubling phone call the night before the rivalry game this season.

“It’s us and Southeast, that’s the big rivalry,” Huynh said. “They are a tough team and when we go out and play them it’s a tough, physical game, but a mental game as well. So when you get a phone call the day before as a coach (from Paz) and she says ‘coach I’m not feeling well, I don’t think I can play’, that’s tough.”

Despite her trepidation about playing in the game, Huynh said Paz showed up at school the next day having changed her mind.

“The next morning she comes in with the big smile she always has and says ‘Coach, I’m going to play,’” Huynh said. “I said, ‘Are you serious?’ She didn’t look like she was sick. But you could definitely tell right when she started to play because she was waving her hand to get a sub.

“She wasn’t 100 percent but as a senior that’s one of those games you don’t want to miss. I was trying to look after her health but at the same time you have a senior tugging on your arm saying ‘I want to play’ and you can’t help but play her.”

“I tried playing but I couldn’t,” Paz said. “Every time I would run I would get nauseous  and I didn’t want to get sick in front of everybody.”

Northwest lost the game 1-0, but Huynh admits that he thinks Paz’s condition could have affected the outcome.

“I think so, it’s a factor that you could look at,” Huynh said. “We could have done worse with Nancy on the field more too, you never know. But with Nancy being 100 percent I think we would have had a better chance to win.”

Paz’s intrepid attitude wasn’t reserved for only the big games. Her work ethic was fierce throughout the season. She said that was something she took to heart this year after she was recognized as one of the team’s leaders

“Being a captain, I wanted to show a good example to the team,” Paz said. “Even if you are hurting, you should try your best and be there for your teammates because they are your family. If I walked (during a game), I wanted the coach to tell me to run. I didn’t want to my teammates to see me walking. I wouldn’t want them to, so they shouldn’t see the captain doing that.”

Her success was a big factor in the Lady Bruins posting a record of 10-6-2. They were 6-2 in Region 7-4A and were the only team to beat the region champion, Heritage. But it wasn’t that victory, or a victory at all, that stands out to Paz in the 2016 season.

In a game with region championship implications, the Lady Bruins trailed Cartersville 1-0 at half. They were able to tie the game and send it to overtime, but Cartersville added a goal in the first five-minute period to win the game.

Despite the outcome, Paz recalls that game as one of her favorite memories.

“We should have won that game but a last-minute goal beat us,” Paz said. “But everybody did their best and gave it everything they had. It was such a tough game. It was emotional, knowing it was my senior year and we needed to win. It was a tough game to play in.”

Northwest eventually finished the season as the fourth seed from the region and matched up against Marist, the No. 1 team in the state in the first round where the Lady Bruins fell 6-0.

Facing such a daunting task, Paz thought the team responded well.

“As a team we did good,” Paz said. “We could have given a little more probably. But we were tied and knowing we were losing brought us down. I was really proud because we kept fighting.”

When asked to reflect on Paz’s season, Huynh marvels at how Paz seems to do a little bit of everything well and that she always is committed to doing her best.

“The thing I loved about her is the simple things,” Huynh said. “Number one was her skill, she has really great talent on the field. Her vision to the see the field and make really good passes is excellent. She can also dribble by players and make them look silly.

“Off the field she is even better. After what I thought would be a pretty tough practice she was asking if she could stay and go to the weight room. The thing with her is she wants to be the best. She knows that as a young athlete she might have a tendency to get lazy, so she wants to be pushed and knows she can get better.”

Paz said she has received interest from Dalton State College and West Georgia University about playing in college, but hasn’t received an offer yet. Huynh believes schools are failing to recognize someone who could be an impact player.

“Colleges that are not looking into Nancy, not just being on the team but being a starter, I think they are missing out,” Huynh said. “She is a really good player. Having seen players around the Atlanta area, I know she has the talent. Teams will definitely be missing out if they don’t try to get her.”

Paz credits Huynh with helping her maximize her potential this season.

“He’s a really amazing coach,” Paz said. “Out of all the coaches I’ve had he’s one of the best. He understands the game and explains it well. Coach Huynh helped the team improve a lot. He’s nice and he’s honest and he’s just someone that we know is always going to be there for us.”