Athlete of the Week: Carlmont's Kayla Fong

Now that Kayla Fong is back, all is right in the world of the Carlmont Scots.

A fourth-year varsity senior with the girls’ soccer team, Fong missed the first five games of the season while playing with her club team the De Anza Force. And in her absence, the Scots got off to a 1-3-1 start.

Since Fong returned to the high school ranks Jan. 2, Carlmont has broken even with a 1-1-1 record. But after a 2-1 loss to Santa Teresa-San Jose in her season debut, the Scots went on to open Peninsula Athletic League Bay Division play at a 1-0-1 clip, with Fong totaling three goals and two assists over the two matches.

That tally includes two goals and two assists in a convincing 5-1 win in the league opener over always intimidating Menlo-Atherton, with her clutch showing earning her Daily Journal Athlete of the Week honors.

“It’s a huge win for us,” Fong said. “I think we went out there trying to prove a point and make a statement that we can compete in this league. I know we lost a lot of our graduating seniors from last year and I think a lot of teams underestimate us.”

Indeed, the Scots lost nine graduating seniors from a team that went 11-2-2 in Bay Division play to take second place before advancing Central Coast Section Division I semifinals. The key loss was that of co-team captain Soha Said, Fong’s fellow forward and attacking compliment in giving Carlmont an intimidating two-pronged front.

The loss of Said forced Carlmont head coach Tina Smith to recreate her offense by concentrating a more Fong-centric attack. Altering the 4-4-2 structure the Scots had utilized over the past three seasons, Smith now has shuffled to a 4-3-3 to give the offense more options when Fong inevitably gets double- and triple-teamed.

“This year is the first year where she’s the big dog because she’s a four-year senior, but also everyone is supporting her,” Smith said. “All the freshmen and sophomores are all supporting her. … She’s the only one up front scoring.”

The role sees Fong come full circle since her freshman year as a slight-of-stature unknown. During that 2012-13 season, Smith was looking for a forward to round out the attack with then junior standout Melissa Wood. But, when Fong announced she intended to land the starting job, Smith didn’t take it all too seriously.

“You’re 5-foot nothing and you’re 80 pounds, so we’ll see how that goes,” Smith said. “But she has great speed, so it was pretty clear. … When she was doing OK against my strong seniors, it was like, ‘OK.’”

It didn’t take long for Fong to find her footing alongside senior leaders Megan Stewart and Emily Cox. And the freshman not only proved to be the team’s most prolific scorer. Her 17 goals fell just seven shy of Carlmont’s all-time, single-season program record of 24 set by Christina Dito in 2005-06.

Although the performance didn’t eclipse Carlmont’s single-season record, it still inspired history. According to Smith, because of the outstanding varsity debut, the PAL created a Freshman of the Year award specifically to honor Fong.

“It’s now been ongoing for four years, and it’s specifically because Kayla had such a great freshman year, they wanted to honor that,” Smith said.

While Fong has yet to surpass her goal total as a freshman, she has grown into the centerpiece of the Scots’ offense, and earned a full athletic scholarship to Cal in the process. And even though she isn’t the only one scoring the goals, when she does exploit a 1-on-1 matchup — as she did on a 35-yard breakaway on a pass from Lauren Morris for one of her goals against M-A — Fong has the ability to dazzle.

“Very few schools take her 1 [on] 1 and I don’t blame them,” Smith said. “If you see her feet … she’s magical.”