'They're all sisters.' East Fairmont soccer siblings typify team relationship

Oct. 17—FAIRMONT — One of the biggest buzzwords in the history of team sports is camaraderie.

For good reason, too — players need teamwork to make a team, well, work and forming personal bonds are a time-tested way of doing that.

And for some teammates, those bonds come ready-made.

Makayla and Ally Comas are sisters, two years apart — Ally a sophomore, Makayla a senior. The pair both play midfield for the East Fairmont Bees soccer team, which just wrapped up a stellar regular season at 16-3-1. Both the Comas siblings have had crucial parts to play in the team's success so far.

"For a sophomore, Ally plays a big role," East head coach Eric Wright said. "She comes off the bench, but you know what, she's done a heck of a job. She's scored a few goals for us this year in critical moments, she's gotten some assists, and even on top of being part of scoring opportunities, she's come in and played well. Her attitude has been great, we're trying to work on stuff each year, and from last year to this year she's made such an improvement."

"Mac is a returning senior captain," Wright said. "Mac is a leader on the team. Mac is one of those, you can go ahead and throw out any statistical contributions because Mac is just a presence on our team. In the locker room, in the school, on the field. She's a great kid, she brings everything we need to the program, she's the kind of kid that we build this program around."

The pair don't quite remember how long they've been playing soccer — between ages four and six, they suppose — but they've played together since U-8 ball. Of course, when Makayla went off to high school, they wouldn't play with each other on the Bees for two years.

Ally came on board as a freshman last season, something Makayla called "a big change" for her, though not something atypical for the Bees. Just a few years ago, the boys and girls soccer programs had seven pairs of siblings between them.

Now though, sibling teammates are more of a rarity at East. And with Makayla being a senior, soon they'll have to disband once again.

"Very sad," Ally said of her sister's impending graduation. "Sad that she'll be leaving me, it's our last year playing together."

The relationship is hardly all rosy, however.

"They love each other and they love to get on each other's nerves," Wright said. "It's just the typical sister relationship. But you know what, it's fun. They get along, they also get at each other sometimes. As long as it's all in good spirit we're all for it."

"It's a struggle sometimes." Ally said.

"When you get to that field, it has to go away, because it could cause conflict." Makayla said, exchanging a smile with her sister.

Despite the typical sister squabbling, the two still have each other's best interests at heart.

"She's trying to help Ally mature as a young player in the locker room and in school," Wright said of Makayla. "She definitely does a good job trying to help Ally along."

"We're both really competitive," Ally said. "I'm more of the protective one. If I see someone go at her, then it's my goal to get back at them, to protect her."

A special bond? Certainly. But, to hear them say it, not one that's exclusive between the sisters.

"I'll be honest, once we're at this point in the season, they're all sisters. Really," Wright said. "So I don't think I see anything more out of them than I do any of the other girls. Mac is normally a center mid, Ally generally plays outside mid, but she also plays some center mid for us as well, so they do have some interaction but I wouldn't say they have anything more than anybody else on the team."

"Both on the field and at school, we're always talking and hanging out," Makayla said of her teammates.

"We always have each others' backs," Ally said.

The bond all the Bees share can be traced back to one special time of the year — their annual training camp.

Wright organizes activities outside the practice field throughout the offseason, but the three-day training camp, where the team stays day and night, is a highlight for many players.

"At the end of every girl's career if you ask them what their favorite part of soccer is, it's usually training camp," Wright said.

The past offseason training camp, the sixth one Wright's done, certainly left an impression on Makayla and Ally. While going through their favorite memories, a couple things came to their minds. Some were more aspirations than memories — "Hopefully we go to states, and that'll be one —" but the most prominent memory in their minds was their time at the camp.

"That was [Ally's] first training camp because of COVID," Makayla said. "So that was definitely a big one."

Amid the practices and cornhole matches, what really stood out was their talent show they put on towards the end of camp.

"I did something with Kinley Opas, Kendra Sleeth, and Abby Black," Makayla said. "I was blindfolded, and so was Kendra. We put our arms in their shirts so that we were their hands, and we made a pie. Pretty much, the talent was making the pie blindfolded, but they had to direct us where all the stuff was. At the end, we pied Eric in the face with it."

It might seem odd to reflect back on offseason shenanigans when high school soccer programs around the state are coming up to the state tournament. But for Wright and his team, the purpose of all the offseason activities was to strengthen the team at critical moments, moments just like the tough postseason matchups to come.

"Every team wants to come in and really try to bond over a family atmosphere," Wright said. "I think we've tried to do that and instill that in them and we do it each year. We go to training camp and we go away for three days and we do a lot of team bonding activities. I think it carries over and it's what really pushes us through to the end of the season. The way they are with the other girls and the way they interact with each other, it just shows."

Though they enjoyed the hijinks over the summer, make no mistake about it, now with the state tournament just days away, the Bees are locked in.

"We're really focused," Makayla said. "Every chance we get we're taking advantage of it. We're taking every practice really seriously and working as a team."

Camaraderie indeed.

Reach Nick Henthorn at 304-367-2548 or by email at nhenthorn@timeswv.com.