Pete Moye’
Sports Button

Cerritos College women’s soccer player Mabel Chacon was born in Honduras but came to America when she was 12 years old to reunite with her mother, who moved away when Chacon was 8 years old.

“I just wanted to hug her and be next to her. I wanted her to tell me how her life was,” Chacon said.

“Everything was different, from how to dress to the language we had to speak, but I did not really care because I just wanted to be with my mother.”

Chacon felt she became familiar with her new surroundings and upon entering high school she took an interest in soccer and joined the Cabrillo High School soccer team.

Playing all four years on the soccer team at Cabrillo led to individual accomplishments, including being named 1st Team All-Moore League as a senior in high school, and was voted as her team’s Most Valuable Player.

Aside from playing for her high school team, Chacon was a member of the Brasil Futbol Club team and the Cal United Club team.

“I was taught a lot (as a member of the club teams), along with my teammates and everything, we did really good, we were just touch, touch and win,” she said.

Chacon kept what she learned with her other teams, with a solid two-goal performance against Taft College in a 3-0 victory on Friday.

Some of Chacon’s teammates are also taking notice of her performance and what she brings to the team.

Forward Samantha Smith said, “Her intensity is high and she has a lot of strive. She’s good for the team, she can finish.”

As a freshman, Chacon now has four goals on the season but feels she still has plenty of room to improve her game as a member of the Falcons soccer team.

“I have to think more positively, in a way that I have to score because in past games, I have been really negative about myself. But right now, I’m doing really well, so I’m okay,” Chacon said.

Cerritos College Head Coach Ruben Gonzalez thinks highly of Chacon and what she brings to this team.

“She brings a lot of energy, a lot of competitiveness, and off the field she is a great person,” he said.

“I think she needs to be a little bit more confident and take better advantages of her opportunities,” he added.

Chacon feels that needing to improve in other areas is necessary.

“I would say it’s to necessary to score. People always tell me that ‘you take every body but you do not shoot’,” she said.

Chacon is grateful to have the support she has from her mother and especially her coaches.

“I just want to thank all my coaches for everything they have done for me and motivating me to continue and not give up,” she added.

While Chacon is attending Cerritos College, she plans to major in kinesiology and minor in sociology before transferring to a university and continuing her career in soccer.