The notion of playing Division I college soccer after a layoff of more than three years was unimaginable.
But after Yobel Gaski led the Texas women to the national club soccer semifinals last November, then-coach Jake Moore suggested the Springfield native ought to think about trying out for the Longhorns varsity squad.
“He said, ‘You should really considering trying out for the actual team,’ and I just laughed because I figured if I wasn’t going to try out after nine months out of school, there’s no way after this much time that I could actually do it,” said Gaski.
Still, Gaski tried out for and made the Longhorns last spring. After last playing at the varsity level for W.T. Woodson High in the spring of 2002, this fall Gaski became the newest member of the eighteenth-ranked Longhorns (8-3-1, 2-1-1 Big 12), who take on conference rival Kansas on national television on Friday (CSTV, 5 p.m.).
She first passed on the chance to tryout for the Longhorns in the spring of 2003. But was Gaski’s decision to attend Texas was a tacit rejection of the sport.
“I felt like I was at point in my life where I wanted to concentrate on other things besides soccer, primarily school and a Christian organization,” said Gaski, who had been recruited by national power Notre Dame as well as Illinois, Colgate and South Carolina. “My focus was a lot less on soccer and a lot more on other things. I wasn’t planning to come here and play or tryout.”
Soccer didn’t let her go, though, and she joined the Longhorns club team as a sophomore.
“After not playing for two years, I could pick up soccer and it could be something really enjoyable to me, instead of it being something that I had to do, or something that I did because it was what I always did,” said Gaski, who led the club team in scoring last season.
The jump from club to Division I didn’t come as easy. She spent the first weekend after varsity tryouts last spring so sore she couldn’t move. But she was determined to get better and prove herself.
“She just came in and worked hard and you saw that she had some ability,” said Texas coach Chris Petricelli. “I even think that when she tried out, you could see just appreciated the opportunity to try out. Just to get a chance to be part of it.”
Now 22 years old, Gaski is a rookie backup forward playing behind some of the top players in the country and loving every moment. She’s appeared in five matches and made her first varsity start against Nichols State on Sept. 15.
“My favorite moment from that game was just being out there when the national anthem was playing,” said Gaski. “Just standing out there and realizing that I was standing on the field at the University of Texas and being about in a Division I game was really, really neat. It was really exciting and it just made me really happy.”
