In the 2025-26 season, the Tam girls varsity soccer team hopes to keep the team’s success flying. Coming off back to back seasons that saw Tam raise a banner, the Hawks enter this season faster, younger, but with the same mindset to retain the success of past years. Varsity girls soccer head coach Dave Presher has a formula that the team’s success is built on. He calls it “culture first.” This model is based on the success of former UCLA coach Margueritte Aozasa, who won a national title in her first season in the NCAA Division I ranks. The Hawks have more than ten team dinners and events scheduled to create a program that’s more like a college one than a high school program. Coach Presher really believes in the culture first idea, saying, “We’ve never been the favorite, but culture beats talent when the group believes.” The players really believe in this philosophy. “Honestly, I think what makes this group so special is the culture we have built together,” junior Lauren Willard said. “There’s a sense of trust and connection you really can’t fake,” she added. Last season as a sophomore Willard set the league assist record and was runner-up for Marin County Athletic League (MCAL) player of the year. Willard also contributed to 24 of Tam’s last 27 goals. “I’m really looking forward to getting to work with all the new players on the team and seeing what we can do this season,” Willard said. “We won the division two NCS championship my freshman year and an MCAL championship my sophomore year, and I’m looking forward to getting another banner this season.”
Coach Presher says the team’s success and connection is not powered by any single voice. The ultimate strength, he says, is that the entire roster buys-in. Many returnering players have played in the late season championship runs in recent years. “They think it’s normal to be champions,” he said. “And that belief matters.” The goals for this season stay the same. Winning the league again and developing a young roster that could make a deeper postseason push next year is what Coach Presher wants. Coming off a victory in the Hawks’ first game vs St. Ignatius the plan stays the same. As Coach Presher says “You can’t guarantee victory, but you can guarantee you’re prepared to win.”