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SPORTS
The Kings Mountain Herald
July 17, 2008
Foothills soccer camp ‘kicks off early wake-up of KMHS soccer champs
REBECCA PISCOPO
rdickinson@kingsmountainherald.com
Foothills Soccer Skills Camp
was a closed-goal deal Friday
by KMHS girls’ Coach Dan
Potter and Shelby HS Coach
David Steeves. They worked
with six-10-year-old kids in the
mornings at Davidson Park and
the older ones in the evening at
Shelby High.
*Potter stated that it was a later
start this summer because of
one of his daughter's recent
marriage and 4th of July cele-
brations. - Not as
many younger campers enlisted
either. But the results for last
week’s 12 rookies were girls
beating the boys in a few of
their daily games.
“Typically the guys want to
stay together. They're constant-
ly saying, ‘Boys against girls!’,”
Potter stated. “The girls are
beating the boys’ male ego.”
The “fun-morning,” as Coach
Potter called it, recounts memo-
ries of his boyhood.
“I was five-years-old asking,
‘Did we win? Did we win?’ And
I didn’t even know,” Potter
aided. “Kids don’t even know
if they're good or if they're
bad.”
To him, it’s the “most refresh-
ing part” of the day when sum-
mer camp is in session.
Potter claimed that the sport
‘was made for him even as a kid.
He was “ADD (Attention
Deficit Disorder) before
Ritalin,” so it made sense for
him to run around and kick a
ball. Steeves and Potter created
Foothills Soccer Camp for the
morning soccer-stars in 1991.
Coach Potter said of them, “I
just see this little sparkle. They
(kids) come out and say, ‘let's
go, let's go!” These kids have
been out for three hours.
Theyre like sponges.”
With the older campers the
| tevo rival coaches hope that they
* instill in players a deeper sense
than skills and competition,
which Potter calls, “giving back
. to the game.”
“That sport brought me to
places I'd never been before,”
' Potter stated. “It’s a much big-
ger picture than kicking a ball.
: Get out and. give back to the
game!”
Giving - though the coaches
say that it’s hard for players on
their seasoned high-school
teams who take A.P. courses - is
done through activities such as
coaching recreation soccer, ref-
~ ereeing for younger kids, or
being a camp counselor for
skill-programs like Foothills.
Four kids, who previously
graduated the camp, assisted in
kicking-up 38 soccer spirits at
the evening camp. They work
with groups of eight-10 while
the coaches rotate. Focus goes
toward techniques and compe-
tition.
“If they learn how to do it
technical, they learn how to
play the game. It’s hard to break
a bad habit of kicking the ball
the wrong way,” Potter added.
On working with KMHS
Lady Mountaineers’ soccer
cross-town rival coach, Potter
said, “Steeves and I have a real-
ly good time! He teases me, but
there’s no vengeance when the
kids are at camp.”
From camps to champs
In the evening camp there are
two rising freshmen (girls)
who Coach Potter hopes.
that he will have a ”
chance to watch at
Kings Mountain. He
doesn’t know them by
name, he claims, nor has
he had much of a
chance to see them
more than 15 minutes a
day (because of rota-
tion).
The eight-year-old
JV (ladies) soccer
team has been
what Potter
calls a feeder
into the
three-time
state champi-
on Lady
Mountaineers.
Then there’s Ramey Kerns
who smoked past the “feeder
system.”
Kerns recently added being
selected for the All-Charlotte
Observer Women’s Soccer Team
to her honors. Coach Potter said
of her last season, “She was the
second most talented player on
the team. She stepped up more
than most people thought and
just exploded! She was our
leading scorer her freshman
and sophomore years.”
Just returning from camp her-
self, Kerns stated she learned,
“to have more confidence on
the ball cause having confi-
dence creates other space for
the players to get involved.”
The season itself was unex-
pected to Potter. With only one
senior in the 2008 team, he
thought that it would be a
rebuilding season. However,
the Lady Mountaineers set their
own record for 16 shut-outs and
took the state championship
again!
In his eleventh season as
coach, Potter plans to surprise
team members, who were
familiar with one position. =
“You might have to shift peo-
ple around. The kids have to be
flexible. A lot have played one
position their entire lives,”
Potter stated.
Connor Blalock played third-
sweeper, but the coach switched
and started her, as a freshman,
in the backfield.
Sara Mauney contributed big
time at the end of the season,
Potter said. He optimizes that
she will continue in fall training
and the 2009 season.
“She is part of a big name. She
didn't
understand
fully what I
wanted (at
the time),”
Potter stat-
“The . big
name” has one
name in front of the
goal. She is part of a
defense legacy with 16
shut-outs. Goalkeeper
Heather Stevens has
long been identified
as the tops when it
comes to state goal-
keepers. According to
Potter, she was part of the
Olympic Development
Program in the state.
“She didn’t face too many
challenges,” Potter said of the
past season. “Our team was
pretty strong in front of her.”
The returning junior is one of
few of the KMHS champs who
aspires to play college ball.
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REBECCA PISCOPO/HERALD
The 2008 Foothills Soccer Camp: Front row, left to right,
Lawson Harrill, Nathan Phillips, Alysa McGinnis, Awanda
Rithiphong, Sara Beth Pasour, and MC Dellinger. Back row, I-r,
Coach Dan Potter, Emma Kate Pasour, Walt Grayson, Jordan
Dairs, Arrick Rithiphong, Mason Nguyen, and Coach David
Steeves of Shelby High School.
ALL SHOWTIMES INCLUDE PRE-FEATURE CONTENT
“Many of the girls play for
fun. They develop their skills
and play at a real high level.
They want to pick the school
they want, not the school that
will let them play,” Coah Potter
stated.
The Mountaineer cleet field-
beating team leadership is
selected after sweating through
fall training and lifts and runs
in the winter. Coach Potter sits
the girls down allowing them to
vote two girls as captains.
“The number one thing is for
the captain to have leadership
and she has to love the game,”
Kerns said.
Last season's captains were
now-graduates Kelli Bolt and
Ashley Witherspoon. The one
area Coach Potter is concerned
about is being good in the air.
Part of that involves height.
“We ended up being hurt in
the Porter Ridge game. They
scored four goals off the
head,” Potter said.
(Goalkeeper, Stevens, is 54”)
“They had two mid-fielders
who are 6.” They beat us 6-2.”
No matter the challenge,
51” mid-fielder = Megan
Loftin, called “Mini-Meg,” is
on the attack. Teammate
Kerns said of her, “She won a
lot of balls and got attacks
started.”
With 10 years behind him
and more to come, Potter
hopes that he and future lady
mountaineers will continue
building a legacy in Kings
Mountain.
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