LANCER ATHLETICS
RACHEL WITZ
SISTER ACT “[Soccer has] been a part of our family ever since we were little,” said Bernadette Witz, the fourth of the family’s six children. “We played from the very beginning.”
JACQUELYN WITZ
Soccer has always been a part of the Witz family; it’s practically in the blood. Five siblings within a seven-year age range means there was always a pick-up game to be played in the family’s backyard or enclosed trampoline growing up. “[Soccer has] been a part of our family ever since we were little,” said Bernadette Witz, the fourth of the family’s six children. “We played from the very beginning.” Somewhere along the way, California Baptist University women’s soccer became another key association with the Witz family. Three Witz daughters—Jacquelyn (24), Bernadette (21) and Rachel (18)—have donned the Lancers’ blue and gold with at least one sister on the team in each of the past seven seasons. “It’s been pretty special to have three sisters now,” said CBU head women’s soccer coach Kristen St. Clair, who took over the Lancers in 2007, when the first Witz, Jacquelyn, also arrived. “We’ve had three different families who have had two sisters in the past, but this is the first time for three sisters.” This is the second year a pair of Witzes have played on Lancer Field together. Bernadette opened her collegiate career in 2010 with Jacquelyn and this year, she plays in the midfield alongside Rachel. Much like Bernadette, Rachel chose CBU because of her familiarity with the
LIVE YOUR PURPOSE | 20
BERNADETTE WITZ
program. She watched both her older sisters go through the program and saw it as something she wanted to be a part of, too. “I think the [commitment] process got easier as I cut down my options, weighing out pros and cons,” Rachel said. “At the start of it, you have a bunch of schools and then you start cutting it down. Toward the end, it was a lot easier to figure out where I wanted to go.” Bernadette’s recruiting process was a little more cut and dry. “There were a couple other schools that I was looking at, but I think it was always going to be CBU,” Bernadette said. “Even my dad said, ‘I’ll let you look at these schools, but I already know what school you’re going to choose.’” The biggest thing Rachel knew she could not find anywhere else, besides CBU, was the chance to play a full season with Bernadette. Although both are goal scorers, rediscovering the chemistry they had in the backyard wasn’t too difficult. “It’s been really cool [to play with Rachel] just because I think we have a bit of a different connection than with other girls on the team,” said Bernadette. “We’ve been playing together since we were young. We kind of know what each other’s going to do, what the other wants us to do.”