KINGSTON — North Kitsap High School golfers Rachel Parcells and Ella Sanman have always been team players.

From an early age, the two played on soccer teams in North Kitsap.

That is, until they decided during their respective ninth grade years to pick up the game of golf. Their definitions of “team” changed altogether.

“In soccer, you could always blame (a loss) on someone else,” Parcells said. “In golf, if I mess up, it’s my fault.”

“It’s so individual, you can only rely on yourself,” Sanman said. “If you have a good day, it shows.”

Whether for good or for bad, the two golfers are adjusting to the individual nature of golf with grace, with both Sanman and Parcells combining for around 50 points each match. The team is enjoying new-found success riding on their consistency, putting up more than 100 points in every match this season.

But Parcels, a junior and the oldest member of the Vikings team, and Sanman, a sophomore, discovered the game in very different ways.

Parcells began her golfing career as a freshman in high school.

“Some friends and I joined the team as a joke,” Parcells said. “But I was the only one who really liked it.”

As a ninth grader, she remembers the days when North Kitsap golf would score around only 15 points per match. Playing in only one match the entire year, she had numerous kinks to work out of her game.

“I started out with a baseball grip,” Parcells said. “But when (coach Brian Bignold) explained (the basics) to me, I got it down pretty fast.”

Bignold started helping her learn the basics of golf, she recalled. Parcells said she improved greatly when Sanman, along with Alicia Bratlien and Miquela Pendleton, joined the team her sophomore year. The three came onto the squad as ninth graders with fundamentals already intact.

“It helped me to learn a lot,” Parcells recalled. “Having people that know the game on your team really helps.”

Parcells played in all of the matches her sophomore year — experience that she said prepared her for this year’s competitions.

“I got a feel for how everyone plays against the pressure,” she said.

The realization of her desire to get better came last summer.

“I realized how many options are out there to play in college,” she said. “And how many scholarships are out there.”

Parcells now works at the Kingston driving range three days a week, adding that she’s been able to practice more due to her employment there. She still has much to clean up in her game, she said.

“I make some silly mistakes,” Parcells commented. “I rush when I’m putting. I need to take more time.”

Sanman began to play competitive golf her freshman year as well, but had some prior experience with her father during weekend trips to the links. Like Parcells, she now dreams of playing golf in college.

“The more you work at it, the more you improve — guaranteed,” she said. “I want to keep on improving.”

The aspect of “team” has also taken to a new form for the sophomore. Despite the individual nature of the sport, Sanman said she believes the camaraderie can push the squad to play its best.

“We can challenge each other,” Sanman said. “We all know each other and can go out and play together.”

And her goal is simple: go to league, make it to state.

“This year, we want to win league,” Sanman said. “Then we’d be able to take on Bellarmine in a league match.”

Sanman said her goal is to not only qualify for state, but still be in the tournament during second-day action.

“We’ll see where it goes,” she said.