Photo Courtesy of SC Jaguars
By Jose Guzman
Gialli Francisco, the personable soccer star who saved the basketball season, has much bigger goals in life.
Like becoming a nurse and saving people.
Until then, she would settle for a 2024 soccer championship.
A First Team All-PCAC striker and captain of the soccer team, Francisco created the feel good story of the year when she and 12 soccer teammates volunteered to become the Southwestern College women’s basketball team after the original squad imploded due to illness, injuries and poor grades. Neither she or her soccer teammates had ever played organized basketball.
They are all really good at soccer. The 2022 Lady Jaguars were PCAC champions and the 2023 team missed repeating by an eyelash. They are among the 2024 favorites.
They were not very good at basketball, losing every game by whopping margins.
Francisco said points were never the point. Showing up and representing Southwestern on the hardwood was the mission. That was accomplished with flying colors. They may have lost every basketball game, but they won the hearts of the entire community.
Heroes appear in times of chaos and challenge. Francisco heard about the basketball team’s meltdown and had an idea.
“I never played basketball before,” she said, “(but the soccer team and I) were talking about how the basketball team did not have enough (players) to have a season. The opportunity to do it together was very important to us. It was all of us wanting to do it as a team.”
Soccer Coach Carolina Soto said the basketball episode was just another example of Francisco’s “remarkable leadership abilities.”
“The soccer team is very close and after their season they were kind of searching for a way to stay together,” Soto said. “Gialli heard about the basketball team’s situation and approached the coach about soccer players filling in. The next thing we knew Gialli had 12 soccer players ready to suit up for basketball.”
There was no fantastical made-for-Disney ending with the Lady Jags winning the championship and posing for statues. SC’s soccer players were often a full foot shorter than the lanky women who excelled at hoops at other colleges. They shot at the basket like they were shot putting at a track meet. Great at dribbling soccer balls, they struggled to dribble basketballs.
But there was a fairy tale ending.
A packed gym of delirious supporters watched the soccer rockers play their final home game against Mira Costa and the love was palpable. They were crowned like sweaty homecoming queens at halftime with tiaras and roses. They received multiple standing ovations, including when they broke the elusive (for them) 20-point barrier. They were on every TV station and feted by big city print journalists.
Francisco admitted she did not see that coming. Again, not the point, she said. For the captain of the soccer team the excursion into basketball was an act of sisterhood for the players and service to the community they grew up in.
“It taught me that when you put your mind to something you can really get it done,” she said. “With soccer I have expectations for myself. I play hard and tend to forget this is a sport that I actually love. Playing basketball showed me that you can have fun when you are trying to learn something new. At the end of the day it’s still a competitive sport and we all wanted to give all of our intensity and very best efforts. That is what you should always do in life.”
Soto said Francisco is a talented soccer player who may play at the university level. More important, though, she is a talented and inspiring leader who brings out the best in the people around her.
“Gialli is going to continue being a leader for us,” “Soto said. “I know she is going to continue to work really hard and motivate her teammates to work hard, too. She will continue developing as a leader and I know that when she leaves our program, she is going to do amazing things.”
On the pitch, the team had a successful 2023 season finishing second place with an 11-5-4 record, but that success did not translate to the hardwood. They lost some games by 100 points but played hard every second with smiles on their faces.
Francisco said it stung sometimes to look at the scoreboard, but she reminded her teammates that there are other ways to win.
“In soccer generally the scores are really close and to get blown out like that in basketball was something we weren’t used to it,” she said. “We had the mindset to say to ourselves ‘it is fine, we do not need to worry about these scores.’ The scores did not affect us. If anything it made us push a little harder. Each game our goal was to improve.”
South Bay youth soccer is a big loose family in many ways, said Soto. Braided little girls play in youth leagues across parks and rec centers from the Mexican border to Chicano Park, fueled by orange slices, awash in Gatorade. Kids with talent and hunger move into teen leagues, then middle school and high school teams. As the pyramid gets smaller near the top, the players get to know each other, either as teammates or opponents – or both.
Francisco and most of her Jaguar crew knew each other before pulling on burgundy and gold kits. Sophomore Ariana Lieras is a member of Francisco’s soccer sisterhood.
“We ended up becoming really good friends during high school and college soccer,” said Lieras. “The (basketball) experience was new. It was an adventure. It is quite different from soccer. Gialli made it enjoyable. She is very much a team player. She is always willing to support everyone.”
Summer workouts are underway and Francisco said the focus now is on the upcoming soccer season. She and her teammates hope to bring Southwestern a PCAC Championship.
Basketball is in the past, but Francisco said the joy she felt from the community and the confidence she gained from the unique, once-in-a-lifetime experience will stay in her heart.
“Moving on and back to what we do best,” she said.
Until the final whistle of the last match of the 2024 season, Francisco – nursing major, captain, leader – will be looking after her teammates. That is what she does best.
So PROUD of you Gialli!! This made me tear up!! ❤️🥹 May God continue to guide you in the right direction so that whatever obstacle comes through your life you continue to work hard and never give up, because your story is truly a motivation to others!!! I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!!