Twenty years ago this fall, I first set foot on the Southmore Intermediate School campus in Pasadena, Texas. Immediately upon the start of the school year, I discerned among my students an urgent need, and I requested permission from our principal to establish a gang-intervention, extra-curricular after-school program providing 6th, 7th and 8th grade students an opportunity "to strengthen their spiritual, personal and intellectual growth through participation in a global athletic endeavor integrating cognitive and physical challenges within a team of peers." That was and remains the mission statement of the Southmore Soccer program. I wanted, at the very least, to battle the appeal and influence of gangs among the youth in a community with a growing immigrant working-class population. I wanted to bring these youths, boys and girls alike, under the mentorship of a positive adult role model in an activity which I knew would be deeply relevant to their lives. Little did I foresee that this soccer program would develop into an indelible part of Southmore's academic culture.
In 1994, there were no other public junior high schools with soccer teams to be found in the entire Greater Houston area. Being blessed with a private school education all my life, I knew I would find middle school teams to play against in that sector. I thus began to cultivate a footballing relationship with a number of private schools. In the years to come, other schools in Pasadena ISD began to follow Southmore's lead, with teachers volunteering to coach, seeking guidance from me in the establishment of their own programs. The District's intermediate soccer movement was thus born. Today, the Pasadena Intermediate Soccer Premiereship league and the Pasadena Intermediate Cup tournament have become an integral District-wide youth mentorship program grown from the grassroots.
While developing Pasadena's interscholastic soccer program, I continued Southmore's relationship with the private schools, playing a series of friendlies each year, and culminating in the annual Kinkaid School Tournament in November, before our District league gets under way. It is a true honor that Southmore is the only school from the public sector invited back to the prestigious Kinkaid Tournament year after year, facing teams like River Oaks Baptist, St. John's, British School of Houston, KIPP Academy, Annunciation Orthodox, hosts Kinkaid...
Twenty years on, generations of boys and girls soccer players have made their run on the Southmore pitch. I see them going on to stellar high school careers and beyond, many of them becoming the first in their families to go to college, some even on scholarships, many professionals successfully supporting families, some operating their own businesses. Some have been contributing to the community by coaching and mentoring their own youth soccer teams in neighborhood leagues. I hear their news when they come to visit, when they post messages and updates on Facebook, when they pick up their younger brothers and sisters after school, when they attend matches. I am no less proud of them now than I was when they donned a Southmore jersey.
This year marked our 12th Kinkaid Tournament campaign. The Bulldogs went to Kinkaid as defending champions, and left as back-to-back champions, capturing the trophy for the sixth time. Not only did this generation of Bulldogs perform so effectively on the field, with a beautiful style that is breathtaking to watch, but they exhibited utmost dignity and respect throughout the tournament, exemplifying the best representation of everything I have sought to instill in my players over the past two decades. And that is the most precious anniversary present a coach can receive.
Happy 20th anniversary Southmore Soccer!
 |
| Southmore Soccer boys, ca. 1994-1995 |
 |
| Southmore Soccer boys, Kinkaid Tournament champions, November 23, 2013 |
No comments:
Post a Comment