Former soccer players get chance to reunite on pitch
When former soccer players from Columbia County schools converge on Lakeside High School's stadium Saturday, Dave Morgan says he'll be prepared for just about anything.
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"Some are a little more competitive than others. Some are a little more fit than others," the Lakeside boys soccer coach said. "I joke that we keep some oxygen on the sideline."
Morgan said that the annual Men's and Women's Alumni Soccer Matches started 11 years ago as a way to bring Lakeside soccer alumni together. It has since expanded to include alumni from other schools.
The women's match will start at 2 p.m., followed by the men's match at 3:30 p.m.
The biggest game throughout the years featured about 74 players.
"It's more of a social thing," Morgan said. "It's a chance for everybody to catch up with each other and have a good time."
Anyone can attend the game and watch for free. The cost for those participating is $25, which includes an event T-shirt. Proceeds benefit the Jenny Clark Memorial Scholarship Fund.
Clark played soccer for the Panthers and graduated from Lakeside in 1998. She was killed in a golf car accident in 2000.
Her parents, Tom and Carol Clark, set up the fund in her memory. The annual soccer match and an annual golf tournament in May are the fund's two primary fundraisers.
Since its inception, the fund has provided more than $40,000, broken down into $1,000 scholarships, for area soccer players to pursue a college education.
"That's the way she was," Carol Clark said about Jenny. "She would give anyone anything. She was just the type that never met a stranger.
"We're kind of doing what she did all the time."
Fatz Cafe will provide refreshments.
Those interested can e-mail Morgan at dmorgan@ccboe.net or contact Carol Clark at (706) 284-3239 or jemcmom55@hotmail.com.
Clark said the soccer match is an opportunity for people to catch up.
"It's fun to get all the kids together after all the years," she said. "Older players meet the younger players, and we have fun awards. ... We have fun with the social side of it, too."