Born into from a family of athletes, UA forward Quincy Bonds has always been competitive.
Bonds has a younger sister and older brother who played sports, as well as an older sister, Talie, who runs track at the UA. The relationship she developed with all of them helped her grow into the person she is today.
“A lot of people don’t’ understand how close we were growing up,” Bonds said. “We went to every game, every concert, everything all together. We all supported each other, so it really was a cool dynamic growing up and realizing that they were always there for you regardless of how you performed or how you did. They were going to have your back.”
Bonds, a sophomore who will lead the Wildcats (2-2) into Thursday night’s home match against Texas Tech, said her siblings “pushed me to try to be the best at jumping over blocks in the living room or how many pull ups can we all do.
“That definitely gave me a competitive edge that I definitely use today,” she said
There’s still things to learn, however, and Bonds says she’s understanding more and more about the new style of play being implemented by first-year coach Becca Moros. The Wildcats play a possession-oriented game, a change from what the speedster was used to under former coach Tony Amato.
“It’s new, but it’s been great,” Bonds said. “I have always been the type of player who gets the ball really long and just runs as fast as I can and hopes I get there. This new style of play of possession and trying to work together is definitely giving me another skill that I maybe wouldn’t have otherwise gotten. I really enjoy working on that side of my game.”
Moros called Bonds the fastest player on the team; it’s a skill that comes with its own set of challenges.
“Typical to players who are really fast, they can develop differently than other players because coaches tend to marvel at their speed and see that as a really quick and easy advantage to carve out,” Moros said. “They use that speed a lot and often to the detriment of developing other areas of their game. So (Bonds) is really excited about opportunities to develop other areas of her game that people haven’t emphasized in the past because she has been so fast and been able to carve out such an easy and quick advantage that way.”
An early test
Thursday’s televised match against the 21st-ranked Red Raiders (5-0-1) will be an early home test for the Wildcats, who will then play Nebraska (4-2) on Sunday afternoon.
Bonds hopes to hear a lot of noise from the Mulcahy Soccer Stadium crowd.
“We love energy,” Bonds said. “We love when people yell, supporting us and all that kind of thing. It makes things more fun. It makes going into tackles more intense because you know you’re going to have a whole sideline behind you, and everyone is going to start yelling. We really appreciate all the support.”
Said Moros: “Please come out. We are building something really special, and you only get to be in this phase where the team is sort of fresh and moving from one style to another for one time. This is it. This is the moment when we’re in that building phase and you’ll never see that again so come out now, see where we’re at now and see where we’re going to go. Long-term, I think you’ll enjoy the brand of soccer that we’re playing.”
Corner kicks
Sixth-year senior Jill Aguilera jumped into No. 3 all-time in program history by scoring her 26th career goals on Sunday against Cal State Northridge.
“We all love (Aguilera),” Bonds said. “She leads the team. She is the highest scorer; but not only is she great on the field, she’s just a kind person.”
Bonds said Aguilera “really accepted all of our freshmen” last season.
“We didn’t feel like there was any animosity towards us, anything like that,” she said. “They really accepted us and brought us into the program, took us under their wing and said we were going to do this together. We really appreciate all of our seniors.”
Bonds, who was a three-time track champion at Centennial High School in Las Vegas, hopes to run for the UA track team this spring.
“I was and still am considering it,” Bonds said. “With COVID last year and how our season got postponed till the spring, it interfered with track meets so I wasn’t allowed to do both at the same time. This year being in the fall, I have the opportunity to run again this spring, so I look forward to that.”
