Alumni compete for fund

Soccer season is still months away, but Panther stadium was filled with several past and present Lakeside soccer stars last weekend.

The Lakeside soccer program, led by boys head coach Dave Morgan, put on the annual Lakeside Soccer Alumni Match on Dec. 17. The event, which is a fundraiser for the Jenny Clark Scholarship Fund, was meant to honor the former Lakeside soccer player.

Clark, who attended Lakeside in the late 1990s, was killed in a golf cart accident in 2000. Her parents, Tom and Carol Clark, set up the Jenny Clark Scholarship Fund in memory of their daughter. The annual $1,000 scholarships assist at least three local high school soccer players each year in their pursuit of a college degree.

This year's alumni soccer match saw 32 former Lakeside soccer players compete and another dozen or so in the stands as spectators, Morgan said.

"It's phenomenal. Most games like this struggle to put two teams on the field," Tom Clark said. "It's great for players and family."

In the end, the alumni who graduated on an even year beat the odd year graduates 8-7. After the game, all participants received an alumni match T-shirt and a catered meal from Fatz Cafe.

They also received a surprise. In a soccer match scheduled in the middle of December, temperatures reached well into the 70s with sunny skies.

The warm Sunday afternoon made for a perfect soccer reunion and actually wasn't a surprise, Carol Clark said.

"We always put Jenny in charge of the weather," she said with a smile.