SOCCER SPORTS A SISTER ACT.

Byline: Susan Palmer The Register-Guard

It was a blue-moon deal, a harmonic convergence nudged into place by a hopeful parent, a thoughtful coach and a gang of talented soccer-playing teens.

When the Churchill High School Lancers varsity girls soccer team ran onto the field on Friday afternoon, they were five pairs of sisters and a goalie ready to do battle with the Douglas High School Trojans.

The Wilgus, Wiper, Bright, Neal and Boyer sisters all grew up playing soccer. Just not together.

That's the reality of club sports, which groups teams with kids of the same ages. It levels the playing field for youngsters learning their moves, but keeps different-aged siblings apart and parents dashing from game to game.

This year, the sisters crowded onto Churchill's fields. Four of the seniors play on the varsity squad while their freshman sisters made the school's two junior varsity teams. Another pair - senior Taryn Boyer and junior Tracie Boyer - both made the varsity team.

Talk about an embarrassment of riches for coach Edwin Jaffarian. While some JV players had been brought into earlier games to substitute for injured or ill teammates, this was the first and probably only time all five sets of sisters had been on the field together during a game.

Jaffarian made the decision as a gift to the parents. Mom Janet Bright had asked him to put her two girls into a single game a few years earlier when her oldest daughter played varsity, and her middle daughter was a freshman, but he couldn't find a way to make it work.

This year, it came together when he saw the Douglas game on the schedule.

"They're not a 4A school," Jaffarian said of Douglas, a Class 3A school near Roseburg. "If I put all my starters on, we'd beat them pretty badly."

This year, the Brights' middle daughter is a senior with the youngest a freshman.

And the freshmen proved they were up for the challenge. In the first four minutes of the game, 14-year-old Lauren Wiper scored the first goal.

"One little freshman just earned a letter," Jaffarian said.

He kept the freshmen on the field for 20 minutes in the first half and another 20 minutes in the second half.

And they helped clobber the competition, 10-0. Three of the four freshmen scored.

In the stands, five sets of parents basked in double the fun as their girls dominated the field.

"They've never had the opportunity to play together," said Cindy Wilgus.

And she liked what she saw. Jaffarian had the sisters play positions near each other, which put Wilgus' youngest, 14-year-old Kami, playing defense and passing the ball to 17-year-old Kori at wing.

"She's not afraid of anything," said Kori of her younger sibling before the game.

"And she's got a boot. She can kick," said Kami.

Taryn Boyer helped set her sister up for a score, passing to Tracie for a goal in the second half.

For some of the girls, it was the first time they'd had a chance to really see their siblings' moves.

But that wasn't the case for the Bright sisters.

"We watch each other's games," said Ashlee, 17, the team captain, whose much smaller sister Allie played forward toe-to-toe with much bigger girls. "We run together. We're best friends."

CAPTION(S):

Five pairs of Churchill High School soccer-playing sisters (from left) Katie Wiper, Lauren Wiper, Kori Wilgus, Kami Wilgus, Richelle Neal, Rhianna Neal, Taryn Boyer, Tracie Boyer, Ashlee Bright and Allie Bright banded as a team Friday afternoon against Douglas High School. A t h l e t i c s