Coach Mitch Smith stands for a portrait at Grace Community School in Tyler, Texas, on Wednesday, May 2, 2018. (Chelsea Purgahn/Tyler Morning Telegraph)

Back in the late 1970s, the Pittsburgh Pirates adopted the Sister Sledge disco hit, “We are Family.”

It was the Pirates theme song for the 1979 season, which the team embraced and sang all the way to a World Series championship.

For five young ladies on the Grace Community School soccer team, that song fits them perfectly.

For the Fab Five, the majority have been playing together under their soccer coach Mitch Smith since they were age 4.

The results have been more than just trophies and two coveted state soccer championships, but also treasured friendships and lifetime memories.

The five Grace Community seniors — Emily McKinney, Lexye Price, Sophie-Claire Rook, Ashlyn Wright and Rylan Wright — have been on the Lady Cougar varsity soccer team all four years and turned the squad into a soccer powerhouse, winning two of the last three state championships.

The Group of Five have not only collected hardware in athletics, but also excelled in the classroom.

It’s been more than a decade of success.

As seniors, they all made TAPPS Division II All-State, quite a feat for one team.

Earning first-team honors were Price at forward, Rook at midfield, Ashlyn Wright on defense and Rylan Wright as goalkeeper. McKinney earned second team defense.

None of the honors surprised Smith as he just finished his 10th season as head coach of the Lady Cougars. Both state titles are very special to him, as the 2016 team also included his daughter, Brittani.

“Brittani’s senior year, it was a great ride to have your daughter on the team,” Smith said. “I have been coaching these girls since they were 8, so I feel like they are my kids, too … and to go out their senior year like this made it a great year.”

Smith said most of the girls have been playing together since they were 4, but they came together for developmental training on the Tyler Azzurri Soccer Club when they were 8. The group also included Addie Daugherty, who led Grace to a state basketball championship this year, as well as other standouts from around the area, including Kilgore’s Kaitlin Word, the Tyler Lee duo of Kourtney Hitchcock and Karla Bustos, and Whitehouse’s Grace Hendricks.

“We had 13 to 14 girls from 8 years old to U15 and six happened to go (to Grace),” Smith said.

He said they played in seven to 10 tournaments a year from the Metroplex to Oklahoma to Louisiana.

“It was a great team, a committed team, an athletic team,” he said. “These girls could all sign with Division I, Division II or Division III schools and they would definitely help each of those college teams.”

McKinney said playing under Coach Smith and with friends made winning their senior year even more special, and the fact her and her teammates have played together all these years meant they communicated well on the pitch which in turn “made us a better team.”

“It was a really exciting time for us — I have played with Ashlyn since I was 4,” said McKinney, who plans to start post-high school studies at Tyler Junior College. “We played defense together this whole time. To win this with my best friends … it makes lots of memories. The road to state is always exciting and nerve-wracking, but also something we will never forget.”  

 Ashlyn Wright echoed McKinney’s thoughts.

“I started playing soccer when I was 4 and that was probably at the urging of my parents,” said Wright, who will be heading to Lubbock to attend Texas Tech. “Then at 8 we started playing club and I was with my friends, and it really turned into my sport.”

She noted that by playing all these years on defense with McKinney, they developed a trust and made the defense formidable.

Rook’s father, Chad Rook, coached her early on before Smith took over on the club level.

“I have always loved soccer, plus meeting friends,” Rook said. “I love the game, but more than anything it was fun and I also loved the social part of it.

Rook, who will be attending Texas A&M, also relished the part of improving her craft, and, of course, winning.

“It is definitely an honor to win twice, but what makes it more special is that we worked for it, it was not given to us,” Rook said.

Rylan Wright joined the others at age 8 for soccer.

At first she did not make the team, which made her work even harder.

“To be honest, I couldn’t catch the ball,” she laughed. “I put in a lot of goal training and personal lessons.”

It paid off as Wright has become one of the top goalkeepers in the state.

She also played volleyball, which helped her game, noting that it helps keepers as you “learn to dive and get on the ground.”

She will now attend the University of Alabama.

For Price, along with her soccer medals, she earned two individuals golds at the state track meet, along with helping Grace win the state track title. She is also a talented artist, who has garnered awards in TAPPS.

The two-time Grace Female Athlete of the Year loves soccer, but she will be a preferred walk-on at Texas Tech for track.

In soccer she was a scoring machine, as Price scored 161 goals in her four-year career.

Winning state twice is not something everyone gets to experience, so Price and her teammates are savoring it.

“It was an incredibly sweet and emotional experience,” Price said. “I truly couldn’t have asked for a better way to end my soccer career, not to mention I got to experience it with my best friends.

“I think our friendship and strong bond absolutely gave us the advantage over other teams. Although we all got frustrated with each other sometimes on the field, which is inevitable with any team, we never took it personal because we knew everyone’s true intentions.”

Now, it is off to college for the fantastic five.

Smith knows all of his girls will succeed in whatever they choose.

“They can accomplish anything,” Smith said. “They are self-driven and whatever they choose, they will be successful.”