The Auburn Mountainview girls soccer program defines success differently.

Not content to merely strive for greatness on the field, the Lions program also pursues excellence in the classroom.

The Lions are known for their success on the field, including trips to the state 3A playoffs in 2006 and 2009, but it is the team’s three academic state titles in 2007, 2008 and 2009 that make coach Cary Davidson burst with pride.

“When I talk about team culture, for incoming freshman, that’s what I talk about,” he said.

Davidson said the program has been “blessed to have a bunch of kids who want to do well and pull the others along with them.” Emphasizing academics is crucial.

“The first thing is to get a kid to buy in that it’s important,” he said. “I try to do a big sales job all the time and let them know how easy it was to write those letters of recommendation for all the girls on those three championship teams. There is no way having that (academic title) hurt them when they applied for college.

“What I tell them is that adults who are going to be their bosses or allow them to go to this college or that college, they see high academics as an indication of work ethic and discipline and being able to follow through,” Davidsonsaid. “They see it as an indication of those good character traits. We just feel like it shows a lot of their character to have that as an emphasis.”

Once the foundation is established, Davidson and the other girls strive to make sure those who need academic help get it.

“There is no discipline or punishment,” Davidson said. “We just try to use positive peer pressure. We just try to let them know there is a reward for doing well.

“We identify individual kids who may be struggling, and I check with them and offer any help that we can,” he said. “We have girls on the team who are 3.5 or 4.0 students, who do well at science and math and other tough subjects. We make sure they all know they have help if they need it.”

So far, it’s worked out well for the team.

The 2007 squad won the Washington State academic title for 3A girls soccer with a cumulative 3.806 GPA. The 2008 Lions posted a 3.813, and the 2009 team notched a 3.788.

“This is who we are,” Davidson said. “We want to be known for our academic success.”