Who Is that girl?

Dad says…
The instance of this story was always special to me, because it showed how Heather’s playing ability was viewed by her teammates. Heather was always a pretty good soccer player even though she developed her skills in a recreational program. When she was a freshman, WHS did not have a girls’ soccer team, so she tried out for the boys’ team and made the junior varsity. She held her own that year, and we added girls’ soccer when she was a sophomore. Unfortunately she broke her leg on a hard play early in that season and had to sit out. She played well as a junior and this story took place during the summer before her senior year.
During summers we always had weekly “open fields” in which boys and girls could come out and play for fun and conditioning. It was coed, but pretty competitive, just the same. We also encouraged new freshmen and transfer students to join in. That way they could make friends and be more comfortable when school began. This particular summer (1995) saw a new boy show up at the field. We welcomed him and saw that he was an average player, but he had an above-average mouth. He was always trying to “explain” his mistakes instead of learning from them. He was a little cocky, but the other kids would deal with that if he was good enough to help them.
After attending for a couple of weeks, he returned and Heather was there this time. He grumbled about having to play against girls, but no one paid much attention to him. As it turned out, he and Heather were playing on opposing teams, facing each other at middle wing positions. The boy played a very “physical” game against Heather for about ten or fifteen minutes. She didn’t say much, but I could tell she was becoming annoyed. At that point she shifted into mid-season form and completely dominated him; tackling his possessions and beating him all over the place when she had the ball. He couldn’t handle her quickness and ball control.
When we took a water break he came off the field griping about everything, but no one would listen to him. Finally, he just said out loud, “Who IS that girl?” Things became very quiet. Then a friend of Heather’s, Kevin Finn spoke up. Kevin had played a lot of soccer with Heather and they had been teammates on that boys’ JV team as freshmen. Kevin simply looked at the kid and said, loud enough for all to hear, “Her name is Heather Morgan, and if she were on this boys’ soccer team, you wouldn’t be.”
I have to tell you that was one of the proudest moments I every had as a Dad.
The boy came back for a few more open fields, but never came out for the team in August. Heather made All-District the next spring. You go, girl.

February 13, 2011 6:01 PM