Buckmaster thriving in goal as a first-year soccer player for Waynesboro High School
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Ava Buckmaster played volleyball in the fall, a freshman for the Waynesboro Little Giants. In the offseason, she was looking for a way to stay in shape and several friends, including senior Ella Frimmer, convinced her to try soccer. Waynesboro assistant coach Ian Hudlow also talked with the ninth-grader about playing.
Buckmaster had never played the sport before, but she decided to give it a shot. And not only is she playing, but she's doing so at arguably the most difficult position, goalkeeper. Buckmaster is the starting keeper for a Little Giants team that has won 14 games and is playing in the state quarterfinals June 10, a first for the Waynesboro program.
"It's a fun sport," Buckmaster said. "I'm coming back next year for sure, better."
Waynesboro needed a keeper this year after last year's starter graduated. Head coach Eli Moore had seen the freshman and thought she had the right size and skill set, including good hands, to play in goal.
"Why not?" Buckmaster said about her decision to play. "Try something new."
Moore gives Hudlow credit for putting in time to work with Buckmaster in the preseason.
"She just won the job," Moore said. "She's really good. She played volleyball, so it was a different experience to play soccer. It's a little more physical, there's a little more contact."
Buckmaster wasn't worried about the pressure of being keeper, the last line of defense, sometimes the only person between an attacker and the goal.
"I was ready," she said. "I wanted to do it. I was excited."
When the other team is coming at her, Buckmaster said she just takes a deep breath. Over the season, her confidence has increased. It helps that the Waynesboro defense, as a whole, has been good this year.
"I have a really good (defensive) line and they've helped me a lot," she said. "This season has been a blessing."
Buckmaster has not only shown the skills to be a good keeper, but she's shown the passion as well. During Waynesboro's regional championship game the freshman reacted to a hard hit by an opposing player by pushing back, earning her a yellow card, a disciplinary warning from the referee. It was her first yellow of the season, and, by rule, she had to leave the field until the next substitution.
"She got a little hot, but I get it," Moore said. "Someone's rolling around on you ... I mean the girl kind of trucked her and I'm glad to see her show the fire, but at the same time you've got to maintain composure."
Buckmaster said it was frustrating getting a yellow card, but a good learning experience.
"I just give it my all," she said.
Moore said Buckmaster has improved in every aspect of the game, but it's her punts that have improved the most. She's also gotten better with her hands.
"She had some great saves," Moore said. "They put the ball on frame and, in the the early days, she'd just reach, but you could see her, she saw it coming and slid her body over. That body positioning was huge for her."
Buckmaster isn't playing travel soccer this summer as she prepares for volleyball season, but she wants to work on her goalkeeper skills as much as possible. She said there are a couple of keeper camps that she would like to attend, and on her own she is going to go to Waynesboro's Ridgeview Park fields and practice.
"I really want to get better for next season and start using my feet," she said. "I want to learn how to do that and just get better."
— Patrick Hite is a reporter at The News Leader. Story ideas and tips always welcome. Connect with Patrick (he/him/his) at phite@newsleader.com and on Instagram @hitepatrick. Subscribe to us at newsleader.com.
This article originally appeared on Staunton News Leader: Waynesboro's Buckmaster finds success in first season as goalkeeper
