Marina Goalkeeper Forni Trades New Mexico for Orange County in Search of Better Competition
Trisha Forni left home at age 16 to follow her dream.
She packed her belongings, said goodbye to her family and moved from Carlsbad, N.M., to Huntington Beach, looking for what she couldn’t find elsewhere.
Forni’s dream is to play for the women’s U.S. national soccer team and compete in the 2000 Olympics. It’s a dream that, nearly two years later, the Marina goalkeeper still hopes to realize.
“I needed a better chance to get looked at,” said Forni, 18. “My last season at ODP [the Olympic Development Program] in New Mexico, we didn’t score a goal for like five games. We lost to every state in the region. I would go home and in my room were all these soccer posters of players, the national team and all that good stuff, I said, ‘That’s where I want to be and I can’t do that from here.’ ”
So that’s when Forni made a phone call. Her trainer in New Mexico was George Valenzuela Sr., who happened to have a son, George Jr., who, at the time, was the girls’ varsity soccer coach at Marina High. The elder Valenzuela put Forni in touch with his son, who found her a family to live with in Huntington Beach.
“It’s like going away to college a couple years early,” Forni said. “It was really hard. It’s a big adjustment when you have problems and you can’t go home to your mom and dad. I know they are only a phone call away, but obviously it’s not the same.”
Marina Athletic Director Larry Doyle was concerned soccer people might think Forni had been recruited; after all, the father of his school’s soccer coach had pointed Forni in Marina’s direction. He also was concerned her arrival would upset the team’s current goalkeepers. Forni sat out her junior season because of Southern Section residency rules.
“A lot of people made it out to be a recruiting thing, but that’s not what it was at all,” Forni said. “I didn’t care what high school I ended up at. I could have ended up at Mission Viejo. I just wanted to get out here and play club and get the recognition.”
Left with only the opportunity to play for Marina’s junior varsity team, Forni decided instead to go to Manhattan Beach and work out with Ajax, a premier club team. She also began working out with several goalkeeper coaches and playing club soccer for North Huntington Beach.
Forni didn’t begin playing organized soccer until age 13. After training under the elder Valenzuela for three months, he convinced Forni to try out for ODP.
“I was scared to death,” Forni said. “All I had learned was the basics. I had never played a game as a goalie. And then I made the [ODP team]. ODP had to be the biggest turning point in my soccer career.”
Forni tried out for California’s ODP last year. She made the District III team, but broke her ankle at the state tryouts. This year, the ODP has eliminated its older-age division (players born before 1980), leaving Forni without another opportunity.
But Forni continues her quest, looking for the recognition that Marina’s first-year coach, Tino Younger, feels she deserves.
“I strongly believe I have the best keeper in the county,” said Younger, who took over the Vikings’ program after Valenzuela resigned last year. “And I think if you asked her teammates that, they would agree. Good keepers are hard to come by, and I have one.”
In her first year of varsity soccer, Forni, now a senior, has 10 shutouts and is helping lead her team toward a playoff berth. After two consecutive upsets of top-10 teams, the ninth-ranked Vikings are in third place in the Sunset League.
“Her biggest strength is her quickness,” Younger said. “She is cat-quick to the ball. She has the ability to get to balls the majority of keepers can’t. She has the penchant for making the spectacular look routine. As a goalkeeper, she is just that good.”
And Forni is now starting to get noticed. She is being recruited by Cal State Northridge, Cal State Fullerton and Cal State Dominguez Hills, but she has set her sights on USC.
“I want to be a Trojan,” Forni said. “That’s what I’m hoping for. They’re going to be really strong and I know it will be great competition if I go there.”
So far, USC has not expressed interest in Forni.
“I think she’s about eight months behind the recognition,” Younger said. “If she had arrived here her sophomore year, she would be fine. She is out there, she is unknown and she’s really good. She is a Division I keeper. I don’t have any question in my mind about that. I think that she could go into any number of programs and compete for a job right away.”
As for Forni’s Olympic dream, Younger also believes that’s within her grasp.
“I think a lot of people have that dream and don’t have that potential,” Younger said. “Trisha does. If she makes the commitment of training consistently, it’s a viable option for her. She’s that good.”
