Coach Mary McKnight hopes the kids on the island’s first-ever soccer team are learning to love the game.
“We’re having fun because I want them to fall in love with it,” she said. “The learning curve is so high that every experience they get with touches on the ball is helping them. I’m impressed with the talent we have here considering that Ocracoke hasn’t had a league before.”
It’s a co-ed team – four high school girls and eight boys have signed on to play: seniors Cecelia Carter, Aldo Serranno, and Caroline Temple; juniors Karla Perez and Jordi Perez; sophomores Mac Kalna and Lupita Martinez; and freshmen John Brodisch, Sam Evans, Micah Joos, Juan Morales, and Jeysen Resendiz.
“They’ll look like blueberries,” Mary said, describing their uniforms of Dolphin (royal) blue short-sleeve jerseys, blue shorts, and matching blue knee socks. The uniforms and 20 brand new soccer balls were purchased by the Ocracoke Athletic Boosters.
Mary is “super excited” to see soccer (the most popular sport in the world when you refer to it as “football”) come to our sandy shores.
“I love soccer. It’s a great sport and there’s a lot of energy around it now because of the U.S. women’s team [World Cup] win,” Mary said. Recently, she was doing a crossword puzzle that had a clue, “Carli Lloyd’s sport.” Do you know the answer? Soccer, of course. (Carli was on the U.S. World Cup team for the 3rd time this year, and also has two Olympic gold medals.) It made Mary happy to see a current women’s team athlete be presumed to be so well known that she could be a crossword clue. Yay, Title IX!
Growing up in Tennessee, Mary started playing soccer in Kindergarten and went all the way through high school and even to the Division I college level at her alma mater, the University of Tennessee. She didn’t go to college to kick a ball; she was on the rowing team instead, but she played club soccer at UT just for fun. The varsity team had so many injuries one season that they called the club team for help. Mary tried out and spent her junior year as a back-up goalkeeper, training and traveling with the team – it was a great experience, she says, even though she never played in an actual game.
“My skills were good, but my mindset wasn’t there,” she said. “Those women were too competitive for me.”
Soccer for fun’s sake led Mary to coach with a youth program in Johnson City, TN after she graduated, and eventually to her gig as head coach of Ocracoke School’s first and only team. (She’s also the school’s only guidance counselor for all 181 students, pre-K–12th grade.)
The kids will play as the Ocracoke High School varsity team, but they won’t play a full season this year, and all five games will be away. (August 27th at Perquimans, Sept, 1st at Camden County, Sept. 10th at Hatteras, Sept. 18th at Perquimans, and Sept. 22nd at Hatteras.) “We hope to have a lot of people come out and support us at Hatteras,” she said.
Adding soccer to the athletics offerings on Ocracoke, the school now has cross country, volleyball, track-and-field, and baseball in addition to the longstanding island favorite: basketball. But with 53 students in high school this year, there are plenty of kids for every team.
“Every time we add a sport or an extra-curricular activity, we get a kid who’s never been involved before, someone who’s finally found something to connect with,” Mary said. (For example, seniors Cecelia and Aldo are playing their first sport at Ocracoke School: soccer.) “I know the sports schedule can be hard on kids and parents, but it’s worth it.”
Ocracoke Youth Center is working on starting a youth soccer league for the younger Dolphins, to create love for the game early on. And they’ll learn skills, too, as a feeder program for the varsity team. Our future soccer Dolphins will really know what they’re doing!
The team practices in the front yard of the McDermott house (you know the one – the great photo-op with the picket fence, arched gate, and lighthouse in the background.)
“Mr. McDermott has been so nice to let us use his yard,” Mary said. “It’s so beautiful – who else gets to practice between the lighthouse and the harbor?”
They’ve also scrimmaged against the adult team of mostly Latino men who play out at the NPS campground. (Read more about this super cool, generous, winning team here!)
“That was lots of fun – and a real eye opener,” Mary said. “We finally got to play together as a team, instead of splitting up and playing against each other. And the guys were so helpful, explaining to the kids how to improve."
Mary credits bi-lingual Peter Williams for helping her communicate with the adult team, which he is on.
“Soccer is building relationships, and creating a connection that I didn’t have before with some members of the Latino community,” she said happily.
Next year, Mary plans a full season of soccer complete with home games at Ocracoke Community Park. (Right now, the new sod is too new to practice on.)
“I think the island community will really get behind it and enjoy the home games,” she said.
Considering the sports fervor on Ocracoke, the general community support for island kids, and the pride in the park, I’ve no doubt she’s right. Soccer moms, unite!
Twenty years ago, I didn’t know anyone who cared about the World Cup. This year, I had visitors calling to ask me where on Ocracoke they could watch the Women’s World Cup games during their vacation. Perhaps soccer-minded visitors will join the local fans to watch the Ocracoke Dolphins next summer and fall.
Meanwhile, Ocracoke soccer moms and dads will hit the road to Perquimans on Thursday.
“I have no idea what the other teams look like or how experienced they are,” Mary said. “I just want our kids out there, feeling confident and having fun.”
Full disclosure: I’m a soccer mom! Go Caroline! Go Dolphins! Ole! Ole! Ole!
