St. Genevieve continues its run after historic title
St. Genevieve assistant boys soccer coach Jose Mejia Sr. insisted that he give his pregame speech in Spanish before a February playoff game.
Mejia, 72, is the father of the team’s head coach and has been battling prostate cancer and bladder cancer.
He asked the team why the lion was the king of the jungle.
They concluded that it wasn’t because the lion is the fastest or the strongest, but because of its mentality.
“I think someone heard it on TikTok or something, but it came from a 72-yearold guy with broken English,” said head coach Jose Mejia. “When we motivate the guys, we just remember that speech that he made about the lion’s mentality.”
The Valiants (15-4-2) have ridden the spirit of that speech to their longest playoff run in program history.
They also won the CIFSS Division 7 title, the school’s first CIF-SS title in any sport since 1978, on Saturday.
Mejia said his father was calm and collected after they captured the title with a 3-1 win over Oxford Academy, while Mejia himself was crying and hugging.
“I’m 45,” Mejia said, “but he’s still my dad.”
The coach said that in previous years at the school, there was an emphasis on trying to win a championship whenever a talented team came around. There’s plenty of talent this season, but the attitude is different. It mirrors the quiet, dignified strength shown by the elder Mejia as he deals with his cancer.
Alex Mazariegos and Beto Chavez are senior captains for the team and control the game from the midfield. Each scored a goal in St. Genevieve’s 3-1 win over Reseda in the first round of the CIF State Division V SoCal Regional playoffs on Tuesday.
“They don’t just lead by talking or barking orders,” Mejia said of the two seniors. “They actually do it and the rest of the team looks up to that.”
There are 11 seniors on the team, which went 6-2-2 and finished second in the Camino Real League.
Still, Mejia has felt outmatched this season because St. Genevieve is a small school compared to many of its opponents.
The Reseda game also proved to be a challenge, not just because of the rough grass playing surface but because Mejia was competing against his alma mater. He played soccer at Reseda and is included on the wall of fame in the gym.
The next challenge for the Valiants was playing No. 1-seeded San Gorgonio in the regional semifinals Thursday night.
The Valiants are the No. 5 seed and they planned to approach Thursday’s game with the lion’s mentality that they’ve shared with Mejia Sr. since he returned from his chemotherapy treatments.
“This year he came back midseason, almost at the end, and joined us again,” Mejia said of his father. “I think just that lit up the team and motivated them. It’s been dedicated to him.”