In need of a fresh start, San Diego Wave FC will get one Sunday in Los Angeles when they open their fourth National Women’s Soccer League season against Angel City FC.
The Wave went through rare upheaval last season and this past offseason, so the full reboot might serve them well.
Happily for local soccer lovers, the team still has Melanie Barcenas. The teenage midfielder and wing’s ball skills make her one of the NWSL’s more entertaining players. Wave crowds perk up whenever she enters a game. Highlights of her clever moves have gone viral on social media.
Barcenas grew up in San Diego and played for the local Surf club. At 10, she got an autographed jersey from U.S. national team star Alex Morgan following a match in Mission Valley. The Clairemont product said her father, Carlos, played soccer on the streets of Tijuana and helped develop her creative moves.
At 15, Barcenas ed the Wave and set NWSL records as the youngest player to appear in a match and to assist a goal. Last September, in her final Wave match before heading to the under-17 World Cup in the Dominican Republic, the 5-foot-4 playmaker scored her first regular-season goal.
Now 17, Barcenas will try to help the Wave reach its third postseason in four years. The midfielder/wing answered several questions before heading to L.A.:
What can fans expect to see from this Wave team?
A: A lot of different ways to attack. We have speed. We have technique, a lot of creativity. We put players in a position to be able to play at their strengths. A team that wants to win and wants to have fun and wants to excite the fans with a different style of football.
Very free, creative. Not traditional American football style.
What are your expectations for yourself this season?
A: Everyone is interested in always being a starter. Obviously, that’s a goal. But, to be a player that can impact the game positively, no matter what situations we’re in, and any position that I’m being put into. Being a player that excites fans and wants to have fans come out to the next game.
How has your game progressed since you turned professional two years ago?
A: Just the confidence. When I was younger, it’s harder to be confident. It’s a new league, it’s a new soccer challenge. Growing the confidence — as I get older, naturally, you just get more confidence. Implementing that into my play, which is being more dynamic, getting into tackles more, winning more duels offensively and defensively.
Having a bigger voice. Even though I am on the younger side, I am on the side of the team that’s been here the longest. So, stepping up off the field as well. Helping my team any way I can, whether that’s at midfield or wing.
Your ball skills are very good, and unpredictable. It’s not a cookie-cutter game. Where did you get that?
A: Always when I was younger, I trained with my dad and my uncle and my brother. I’m not very fast, I’m not very big; so, just finding a way to stand out or be different from other people on my teams and just in general the soccer. That was something that took a lot of learning and a lot of skill.
Ever since a young age, I’ve always trained to be really creative, really unpredictable, just be very skill-minded and attacking-minded, dynamic and, mostly, just being creative at all times possible, no matter the scenario. Disguising, using different things to disguise — whether that’s ing, shooting, fake kicks. Being creative to make yourself stand out when you don’t have the speed or size.
You have 106,000 followers on Instagram. Is that something that has happened as a result of your turning professional or is it something you tried to cultivate?
A: Before I went pro, I had something around 4,000 to 6,000. So, already, I had a bigger following, at least to begin with. Just with youth soccer, things get around pretty quickly. I was playing a lot of soccer, pickup soccer; so, word of mouth, people start knowing you.
Seeing how the professional thing turned out, my following definitely grew. I think it was based off of clips and highlights being posted — the play style.
That’s what I’m talking about when I say I want fans to be excited to watch me. That’s where my following is from — the play style and the clips that the NWSL or the Wave have posted of me. That’s probably why I have a following.
Just being from San Diego, playing for somewhere that you’re from, you just have way more that way. I feel that. I think that’s also why.
What is your life like when you’re away from your job as a professional soccer player?
A: My typical days are doing schoolwork. I’m finishing my last senior semester (of high school). I’m finishing that hopefully by like June, so then the rest of the season I can just focus on soccer, come to training (without) having anything to stress or worry about.
I spend a lot of time with my family. After games, we go eat somewhere — Yard House or get In-N-Out or tacos or something. There’s a lot of family time involved, having been from here and having everyone that I’ve lived with in this area.
And then, I do have the option of friends when I do have free time. Which is a very good factor. All of that just makes for a really good life. Play professionally at home, have the of your family. It’s just amazing. And I’m always grateful.
I’ll go to basketball games or football games. Just try to fit in some of the normal teenage parts of life into my normal life. Obviously, I’m not a normal teenager. I come here (to the Wave) and this is my job. I wouldn’t trade it for anything.
High school or home school?
A: I’ve only been to elementary school. So, I’ve been home-schooled for like six years. Never been to middle school. Never been to high school.
I’m very surprised. I’m pretty social for not having those parts of my life and experiencing that. But the things I’ve experienced through soccer and the connections I’ve gotten to make, being around women for the last four years of my life — very powerful, strong women.
Alex, I got to be with her for around three-and-half years, and that was just amazing. Kailen (Sheridan, the Wave’s starting goalkeeper), Kyra (Carusa, a Wave forward) — other powerful women, that’s something I’m hoping to take into my career as well.
Has being bilingual and culturally bilingual added to your growth?
A: I can speak a little Spanish. I pick up things. I have a great-grandmother that lives at my house. She speaks only Spanish, and I pick up things. Being in Tijuana, going to the Dominican Republic for the U17s World Cup, all of the workers there were speaking Spanish, so I kind of naturally picked up on things. It is in my culture. And I am a Mexican as well. That also opens other doors. It gives me another side to connect with. I also hope to inspire young Latina girls.
Concerning the Wave, so many players and others have left — big names. What can you tell fans about the new group and how the team is doing right now?
A: There’s a lot of new energy. There’s experience. There’s young.
We’re a very soccer-first type of team. We all want to have fun and create a play style that people want to watch. We are a very hard-working team, we’re committed to each other. We’re going to do what’s best for each other on and off the field, and just always each other, and celebrate every single moment with each other.
I’m really excited for this season. We have a lot of great talent on this team — people who can play multiple positions. That’s going to be the key for this roster, just being able to adapt and one another.
Season opener: San Diego Wave FC at Angel City FC
When: 3:50 p.m. Sunday
TV: ESPN2
