Hall of Fame: Lauren Weaver (Estancia)

Richard Dunn

Most underclassmen dream of an opportunity to compete on the

varsity level, but, for Lauren Weaver, her lone season on junior varsity

was a huge turning point in her long soccer career.

As the go-to player on JV her freshman year at Estancia High, Weaver

was suddenly thrust into a new situation on the field with only two

seasons of club soccer under her belt. (At the time, girls club soccer

was still a rather novel concept.)

“I really had to concentrate on my play and I became a real confident

player that year,” Weaver said. “I was able to walk on the field as a

sophomore (on varsity) and maintain that confidence and skill level, and

I was able to play the same (forward) position as a sophomore.

“It has always struck me. How lucky was I not to be on varsity as a

freshman? I was able to develop then, and at a crucial age. The coach

(Jenny Tavares) believed in me and (the JV success) carried over after my

freshman year.”

Just as Weaver arrived, Estancia was about to enter its finest era in

girls soccer, winning Pacific Coast League championships in 1990-91 and

1992-93 -- Weaver’s sophomore and senior years.

Estancia also competed four years in a row in the CIF Southern Section

Division II playoffs (1991 through ‘94), the first three with Weaver

scoring goals and maneuvering the ball on a talented team that also

included goalkeeper Kristina Grigaitis -- Weaver’s doubles partner in

tennis.

A three-time first-team All-PCL soccer player and the league’s

two-time Offensive Player of the Year, Weaver was a two-time All-CIF

Division II selection, including a first-team pick her senior year.

Weaver, voted the Female Athlete of the Year at the school and in the

PCL in 1993, garnered team most valuable player honors her junior and

senior years and earned a scholarship to St. Mary’s in Moraga (Northern

California).

“My confidence grew so much playing JV and it carried on the rest of

my sports career,” said Weaver, who was also a standout in track and

field and tennis.

In tennis, Weaver and Grigaitis reached the PCL championship match in

doubles three times, including winning the league title their junior

year. They compiled a 69-5 record as seniors.

Weaver, an all-around talent for Estancia in the early 1990s, was

twice voted the team MVP in tennis.

In track, Weaver won individual PCL titles in the 100- and 300-meter

hurdles as a sophomore in 1991, finished as league runner-up in both

events as a junior and claimed the PCL championship in the 300 hurdles as

a senior, when she was also the team MVP.

Weaver played soccer for four years at St. Mary’s, including her final

campaign in the fall of 1997, after she had already graduated and started

working on her teaching credential.

At the end of her junior year in the fall of ‘95, Weaver tore the

anterior cruciate ligament in her knee and spent a year rehabilitating

the injury as she redshirted in ’96.

As a St. Mary’s freshman, Weaver scored goals against Santa Clara,

Stanford and Mia Hamm’s North Carolina squad -- all ranked in the top

five in the nation at the time.

While she played against several members of the famous women’s U.S.

Olympic gold medal and World Cup championship team, Weaver said she

lacked the “natural speed” to compete at the next level above Division I

college.

“I definitely have an understanding of the game, and the passion’s

there and the heart’s there,” said Weaver, who has been coaching soccer

and track at Northgate High in Walnut Creek for the past three years.

Weaver, who is single and lives in Oakland, is a world history and

P.E. teacher at Northgate, where she will be a second-year head coach of

the girls soccer team this season.

“I’ve finally come full circle, because I always wanted to coach,”

added Weaver, the latest honoree in the Daily Pilot Sports Hall of Fame.