Rooting Interest Sisters Rachelle (Field Hockey) and Taylor (Soccer) Comeau Bring Competitive Spirit to Cal
By Melissa Dudek
T
his fall, if you’re seated on the benches in Edwards Stadium or nestled along the sidelines at Maxwell Family Field, there is one word you will often hear bellowing out of the speakers at either venue: Comeau.
Sisters Rachelle and Taylor Comeau are in their second and final season of being a one-two punch in Golden Bear fall sports. Senior Rachelle is a forward on the field hockey team, trying to help her squad repeat Rachelle Comeau Taylor Comeau as NorPac champions. Sophomore Taylor is a midfielder on the women’s soccer squad and looking to experience the NCAA Tournament for the second time in her young career. The Comeau sisters are the youngest of four siblings in a very sport-centric family. Their parents, Robert and Stephanie, ran track together at Los Gatos High. Oldest brother A.J. played rugby at San Jose State, and brother Robbie played club lacrosse at Cal. 14
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In a family of six, “friendly” pickup games were a common occurrence when the girls were younger. Basketball, soccer, baseball, hockey and even roller hockey games would break out on a regular basis. “One time, we were playing soccer on the beach,” Rachelle recalled. “I was slide tackled from behind. Robbie was bleeding. Mom twisted her ankle. Dad got hit in the face. It was pretty rough.” There was always one set rule in the pickup games that involved the makeup of the teams. “We had set teams because Taylor was the most competitive of all of us,” Rachelle explained. “And one of my older brothers, Robbie, he cheats when he plays. So Taylor would start crying if she would lose. It was pretty bad. So we had respective teams to play in to make sure those two were always together.” “That was when I was younger, not when I was like 18 or anything,” Taylor is quick to add. Sports weren’t the only thing the family collaborated on. When the girls were in middle school, they also worked together to raise an orphaned cow named Martin in their side yard at their house in Los Gatos. “We were in Oregon where my grandparents have a farm with cows,” Rachelle recounted. “One of the mothers gave birth to a calf. She unfortunately passed away while giving birth, so this calf wouldn’t have gotten milk, and my grandmother and grandfather couldn’t feed it every day. So, we took it in the back of our Suburban and drove it all the way down to California. Then we had a cow in our back yard until it was old enough to go to the farm. We nursed it. It was like a dog/puppy. “ Long before Martin arrived and long after his passing, the girls’ passion for sports thrived. At a very young age, they started playing organized sports in addition to the family free-for-alls.