Indiana University Athletics
Soccer Hoosiers Visit Area Middle Schools
10/25/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Soccer
Oct. 25, 2006
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - The Indiana University men's soccer team took a break from preparing for its upcoming game against Wisconsin to visit some local middle schools on Wednesday, Oct. 25.
Senior Josh Tudela and sophomores Brad Ring and George Tembon visited with students at Tri-North Middle School. Sophomore Kevin Noschang and freshmen Ofori Sarkodie and Neil Wilmarth went to Batchelor Middle School.
"Going out and visiting with local students in the community is an important part of IU soccer," head coach Mike Freitag said. "It's important to sell our sport and do community work. By doing school visits, we hope we can have a positive influence on kids."
The players answered questions about soccer and school, emphasizing the fact that getting a degree is their first priority.
"It was a fun experience," said Wilmarth. "We taught them that we are student-athletes and not just athletes, and we did stress the importance of education. It was a good time."
At Batchelor, Noschang, Sarkodie and Wilmarth discussed how they have to manage their time to balance schoolwork and soccer practice, talked about the travel involved with playing in college, and answered questions about overcoming the fear of having a shot come at you at 50 miles per hour.
The players also did demonstrations on heading and juggling.
"The kids were great," said Sarkodie. "It's always nice to go out and give back and push them to work hard and thrive to achieve their goals. They asked a lot of good questions."
Several of the students displayed their Hoosier Pride with Indiana shirts and jerseys.
"It's always nice go out and meet the people that actually come to your games and cheer for you," said Noschang.
The Hoosiers, currently ranked No. 7 in the Soccer America poll, return to the field on Friday, Oct. 27, against Big Ten rival Wisconsin. The winner of the game wins the regular season Big Ten title, and receives the No. 1 seed in the Big Ten Tournament.
