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Reed Expresses His Most Memorable Soccer Career Moment

Ransom Reed '15, Alumni Association Scholarship Award Winner
I have attended Westminster Christian School since the second grade. For these last eleven years, the school has been my home away from home. The first year I was at Westminster, my older sister Taylor began to play soccer for the school. Because of that, as soon as school was over for the day, I would walk over to the high school campus. Within the first few weeks of school I discovered a few of the varsity boy soccer players would hang out under the concourse and kick the soccer ball around. (This group included Jake Moffet, Dylan D’Adesky, Adam Nathan, Johnny Devaldivielso, Cody Jackson and Daniel Crane). I would sit and watch, mesmerized by how good they were. I loved watching them. Quickly, though, they noticed the little boy hanging around. Soon they invited me to join them. Even though I was nervous, they not only included me but let me know they wanted me to be there.

Playing with them after school was what I looked forward to every day. In fact, it was the highlight of my day. School was fun, but this was fantastic. Some days we would scrimmage. Other days we would juggle or freestyle. At that time I had long flowing hair and I never wore shoes. They began to call me Mowgli (the little boy from the Jungle Book). When the season started, they did not forget about me. They would invite me to sit with them on the bench and when they went on road trips, sometimes they would take me too.

When I got a little older, Brian Wolfe, the coach, let me be the ball boy. That meant I got to go to every game, home and away. I rode with them on the team bus and Brian even got me a special ball boy soccer shirt. The games that I remember the most vividly were those against Palmer. They were always our rivals and I got the chance to share in the feeling of their playing. That is when I decided that someday I wanted to be on the Varsity Soccer and that someday I wanted to beat Palmer too (and score a goal against them).
As I got older, I continued to play soccer with these guys. They were instrumental in developing my skills, teaching me not only some of the fundamentals but their favorite tricks as well. I moved my way up through the Middle School team, to Junior Varsity and then eventually to Varsity.

My Senior year we played Palmer. The season was half way over. As a team, we were doing fairly well. Palmer scheduled us for their Senior Game, the game when all of the Senior players and their parents are honored. Although this wasn’t a district game, it was most important to me. About 20 minutes into the first half the game was still scoreless. We lined up for a corner kick. As the ball sailed in from the side, I won the header, headed the ball and scored. For a moment everything seemed to freeze. Then it hit me. I had scored against Palmer. I celebrated the achievement of a years’ long dream. That was probably the most memorable moment of my Westminster soccer career.

Because of the example of those older soccer players, as I have moved through high school, I have tried to emulate them. I have attempted to notice the younger players, to include them in our soccer playing, to talk to and encourage them. Now, as I am about to graduate, I hope to keep this going.

I don’t think we do enough with our alumni. I know Mr. Warren (and I am sure others too) have talked about how we can keep in touch with our former students better. I hope some of the ideas I have heard actually can be implemented. Each year we do have an alumni soccer game. Players from different graduating classes come back for an afternoon of friendly competition and banter. Hopefully we can do more together.

I intend to stay connected to Westminster. Even after they graduated, many of those soccer players have continued to keep in touch with me. They have provided guidance throughout high school, advice about college and even job offers. I hope to do the same. Whether it is being a counselor at Warrior Week or coming by and helping Josh with the soccer team, I would like to be of some help. As I have found out first hand, our alumni continue to be a big part of Westminster. I hope to pass along what I received and to play a small part in bringing together the present former and present students of Westminster.
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Westminster Christian School, located in Palmetto Bay, Florida, is a private, college-preparatory school for children from preschool through twelfth grade.