Thursday, Sept. 25, 2003 | 9:52 a.m.
When a team's top player heads into the season injured, words like "adversity," "challenge," and "struggle" usually echo from teammates, coaches, and fans.
But when Bishop Gorman soccer star Mike Zaher sat out the preseason after wrist surgery, using those words to in the context of the Gaels almost seems trite.
To say it's been a rough year for the Gaels would be an understatement, tracing all the way back to Zaher's broken wrist from last year that required late summer surgery. The wrist injury did not compare to Zaher's greater test.
Last fall, Zaher's older brother, Joe, came back for Thanksgiving after starting school and a highly successful first soccer season at Oregon State. Joe died in a car accident on a rainy early December night, devastating his family and ex-Gorman teammates.
"He was my role model," Zaher said of his older brother. "He was just a great player, my best friend. It's been hard."
"I know what he would want me to do. If any good comes out of it, it's something that's always in the back of my mind, that's always going to keep me working harder."
It would be just the beginning of a long year in the Gorman soccer program. Earlier this year, longtime Gaels coach Victor Arbelaez was diagnosed with cancer on his left tonsil, forcing him to have it removed and undergo radiation treatment while retaining his duties as both boys' and girls' soccer coach.
Arbelaez, who coached both Joe and Mike, faces the realities of both Joe's death and his own health with perspective.
"It's been tough. These kids are like my own kids, but when it's time to work, it's time to work," Arbelaez said. "Unfortunately, life has to go on. That's the cruelty of life. (Mike) will always have that memory of his brother with him."
After all the challenges, the Gaels have kicked off their year with a strong start, with Zaher hitting the back of the net for eight goals this season. Zaher's biggest athletic challenge is now trying to find competition at his level, while adapting to his teammates after sitting out the preseason recovering from his injury.
"He's probably the best player in high school right now," Arbelaez said. "He'll be covered the whole season by two or three players, but that's when he has to find the open players. He's still developing, but he has to see that he doesn't have the national team players next to him."
Zaher, an All-American as a junior with plenty of experience in the U.S. Olympic Development Program, spent the summer training with the under-18 national team. The college attention is coming as well. This fall, Zaher has made recruiting trips to Notre Dame, Stanford, UCLA, Santa Clara and San Diego -- all while rehabilitating his wrist, doing extra training, and racking up goals for the Gaels.
"The level of competition within high school is lower than what I need to be playing with," Zaher explained. "But that's just an obstacle on my part to discipline myself, get out, do training on my own.
"Teamwise, I couldn't really play with them in any of the games in the preseason and now I think we're really getting into it, because I'm starting to get into a rhythm with the team."
Through all the training, recruiting, accolades and honors, Zaher's thoughts still go back to his brother.
Joe himself was an impressive soccer talent. Before his death, he was named the Pac-10 freshman of the year, racking up 25 points and leading the Beavers to their first NCAA tournament appearance.
"Playing with (Joe), all his accolades he received helped me to hopefully get where he was, and exceed that," Zaher said. "I don't think it should happen to anybody, but if I can take any good out of it, I think it's just what he would want me to do."
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