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THURSDAY. FEBRUARY 5. 2015 PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS PAGE 3B
Mountain City Soccer holds annual Awards Banquet for 2014
On Saturday, January 17,
Mountain City Soccer Club held
its 4th Annual Awards Banquet.
This year’s banquet was held at
the elegant facilities at Chatta
hoochee Technical College with
an estimated 400+ people in at
tendance. The players were given
their fall season team award
which was a custom made medal
that contained the fall jersey logo
and blue & black stripes, which
has become the new look of
Mountain City Soccer.
The night began with club an
nouncements and spring season
updates. Next, the players and
their families were treated to the
club’s annual video presentation
which wraps up the 2014 year
and tells the story of where the
club is presently with video, in
spiring music and a photo slide
show. The video can be viewed
on the Mountain City Soccer
website (www.MountainCi-
tySoccer.org) or YouTube, com
(search Mountain City Soccer).
After the video, the banquet
continued with the special club
awards which shines light on the
standout individuals from the
past year. Those awards are listed
with photos. The special awards
wrapped up the night for Moun
tain City Soccer and put a close
on 2014 but bigger and better
things are in store for soccer in
Pickens County.
Johnny Padgett
Memorial
2014 Johnny Padgett Me
morial Coach of the Year
Award - Jerry Greer (above),
coach of the U8 Barracudas,
and Marianne Shepherd
(below), coach of the U6
Blue Smurfs.
Both are outstanding
coaches that do more than
just teach the fundamentals
of the game. They both bring
a family atmosphere to their
teams which helps us grow
loyal and dedicated players
to our club and to the sport.
Both are a true asset to the
club and to Pickens County.
Mountaineer
Award
Before there was a Moun
tain City Soccer Club, one of
our coaches, Steve Biles, as
sembled a group of young
men ranging in ages from 11
to 15 years old to try; to com
pete with teams outside of
Pickens County. Before this
team, it was unheard of to
take teams outside of Pickens
to play except for end of sea
son “All-Star” tournaments.
Steve changed this path with
this team and in 2011 it be
came the U19 boys team for
the first season of Mountain
City Soccer. On that team
was a young man - just 14
years old who had played
with Coach Steve’s team the
seasons prior. His name is
Brad Rutledge and played on
Coach Steve’s team as the
youngest player - playing
with kids a few years older
than he was. He did this so he
could compete with teams
outside of Pickens County
and the only option was to
play on the team with older
guys. This truly paid off for
Brad. Brad soon proved that
he had the talent to compete
with the older kids and his
body just had to get bigger
and stronger. Within a few
seasons, he moved his way to
the starting lineup for the
U19 Red Bulls which was
Mountain City's first team to
complete at the state select
level. This past season, all
the years of playing with the
bigger, more athletic kids
proved to have made Brad the
top male player for Mountain
City Soccer. This past fall
season and his final season
with Mountain City Soccer,
Brad was the unanimous
team leader for the U19 Red
Bulls. He lead the team in the
center midfielder spot playing
tough on defense and leading
the way while on attacks.
Coach Gerry Gleason, who
coached the U19 Red Bulls
this past season, counted on
Brad to be the team leader
and Brad did not disappoint.
We are happy to have Brad
compete for Mountain City
Soccer for our beginning and
hope he is able to continue
his soccer on the next level.
He definitely has the ability
to do so and that is why we
named Brad the top male
player for Mountain City
Soccer!
The Golden Gloves Award
This award is for the top goalkeepers in the club for 2014.
Every team needs a top performer at the goalkeeping position.
When everything breaks down and it is just the attacking
player one on one with the goalkeeper, a coach wants some
one that is super confident and skilled so the attack can be
shut down. This year’s Golden Gloves Award goes to Sadie
Phillips, Adam Leicht and Mason Bradford.
The Belle Boone
Team Mom Award
The 2014 “Belle Boone
Team Mom ” Award went to
Nicole Crowe for her contri
bution and time given to her
son’s team this past year. She
assisted Coach Jerry Greer’s
U8 Barracudas with practice
and game arrangement and
made sure everyone was in
the right place and wearing
the right uniform, which is a
very difficult task. Having a
team mom like Nicole takes a
huge burden off the head
coach so the coach can focus
on teaching the kids. We are
glad to have Nicole and the
Crowe family involved with
Mountain City Soccer.
Nicole’s husband Kevin ac
cepted the award on her be
half.
Lady of the
Mountain Award
This award goes to the top
female player in all the club.
We were happy to give this
award to Caroline Ange-
lisanti. Caroline, or “Bob”
as she is called by her team
mates, is a true soccer player.
She has been playing all her
life and always a top per
former on the field. When
you watch a game with Car
oline, she is easy to spot. She
is the player that plays up
and down the field and al
ways there to put in a tough
shot when her team needs it.
The sky is the limit with Car
oline and her soccer career.
She has the ability to be one
of the best soccer players to
ever come from Pickens
County and we would not be
surprised to see her playing
at the collegiate level and be
yond. One of the best things
about Caroline is that she is
modest and humble when it
comes to her soccer. She is
the nicest, well behaved
young woman that you will
ever meet. You would not
know you were talking to a
soccer star while being
around her, but put her on
the field and you will see why
Mountain City Soccer is
proud to have Caroline as its
top female player for 2014!
Just a
mouse
click
away
www.pickensprogress.com
MCSC Team of the Year Award - U12 Breakers (l-r): Will Finney, Oliver Shaw, Peyton John
son, Michael Rumsey, Pete Bryant, James Carlan, Will Cox, Layne Wendt and Caleb Bryant.
Not pictured - Luiz Mendez and EJ Oberly.
The MCSC Spirit Award
The Spirit Award goes to the
players that represented the
club with good sportsmanship,
positive attitude and class while
both on and off the field. They
are seen in the community,
schools and on the sports field
as being good, genuine kids
who promote the MCSC spirit
wherever they go. We were
proud to give the 2014 Spirit
Award to Anslee Stone and
brothers - James and Ethan
Carlan.
The Robin Parsons
Leadership Award The Rookie of the Year Award
This is a new award for
Mountain City Soccer and it
is named after current chair
man of the board, Robin Par
sons. Robin has been a true
leader for the club since 2012
and helping the club stay
going in the right direction.
As the administrators, staff
and board members change
over the years to come, the
club wants Robin’s name to
continue on as being a true
leader for the club. This
year’s Leadership Award
goes to Will Cox. Will is a
true leader for his team. He
is not the most vocal player
on the team, but he leads by
example. He always puts out
maximum effort, stays cool
under pressure and his team
sees this in him. He is a
player a coach can trust to do
his job whether he is in the
game or not. Will is consis
tent and reliable which are
both some of the main char
acter traits you want to see in
a leader.
As the name states, this award goes to the top performers
that are brand new to the club in 2014. We have plenty of tal
ented, skilled kids within Mountain City Soccer, but we are
always looking to add more talent and we are pleased when
we have “new blood” come into the club with top level talent.
This year’s Rookie of the Year Award goes to Amanda Bram-
lett and McCord Purdy.
The Rising Star Award
The Rising Star Award is for the player (U 12 and younger)
that show true promise and talent that will make them a star
when they get to the older age groups. They; have proven to
be one of the top skilled athletes for the younger age groups
and the club sees them as the future stars for the club. This
year’s award goes to Lilly Wendt and Caleb Bryant.