Carmen Liberto is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Chaparral High School for AZPreps365.com

The Chaparral girls soccer team is not only good on the field but they can cook up a mean bowl of pasta for bonding nights. 

To keep up with their championship appearances, Chaparral prioritizes the bond within the entire team.

Parties such as pasta nights helps keep the team as close knit as possible to continue to earn their state championship titles.  

Head coach Robyn Carlson said she makes sure her team feels comfortable with each other and unite together when it comes down to the important moments. 

“You have to trust each other and believe in each other from the coaches all the way to the players,” Carlson said. 

Carlson has been the coach for 30 years at Chaparral and has since brought eight state championship titles to the school, winning her most recent one during the 2024-2025 season. 

She attended Chaparral herself when girls soccer was not even sanctioned as a sport. To now be the coach of a championship program shows the hard work she has put into it. 

Thirty years ago, Carlson was young and said she learned from her playing to put her skills towards coaching. 

“The most important thing I learned is that you have got to believe in each other and you have to do it with everyone,” Carlson said. “That’s what I believe started a culture where all the players believe, even if you’re on the bench, it takes all the girls on the team.” 

She said she is still learning and growing from every opportunity with her team.   

Carlson’s players have also taken on this mindset of positivity and having a calmness on and off the field. 

Junior forward Delaney Hawkins described Carlson’s coaching style as uplifting and encouraging. 

Hawkins said Carlson is never negative towards her, and that Carlson always tells her what’s needed for improvement without yelling. 

Carlson said she makes sure her players know that it’s not about the mistake you made, it's about what you do after. 

“Her mentality of how she coaches, of just how to connect with the ball instead of just launching the ball like other high schools,” Hawkins said. “It’s really uplifting.” 

Senior forward Ava Hinske has played for Carlson for four years, and will play in college with the memories and guidance from Carlson that will be stuck with her for a very long time, she said. 

“She always says to just worry about the controllables,” Hinske said. “If you only worry about things that you can control such as your effort and the way you react to things, then you’ll realize that the game will get easier, and you’ll have more confidence in that game.” 

Along with being a state championship coach, Carlson is also a teacher in Spanish at Chaparral. 

Carlson makes sure that athletics comes second to academics, she said. Her team has an overall 3.8 GPA. 

“Academics, sportsmanship and athletics, all of that comes first,” Carlson said.