A challege issued last year was accepted this year, and next week Kerr will take to the soccer field in a match against Alief Early College High School.
AECHS challenged Kerr to a soccer match in 2011, but since it was too late in the year, the match didn’t happen. Sophomore Rebecca Negri was ready this time and accepted the challenge this year with vigor.
“It started my freshman year. My mom [sophomore class sponsor Laura Negri] brought it up and said that the Early College soccer team for homecoming said that they challenged us,” she said. “The next year, I decided to answer their challenge and accept.”
The soccer game will be held at Crump Stadium on Tuesday, May 22, with the Kerr girls and boys soccer teams going against the Early College girls and boys teams. The game will start at 6:30 p.m.The girls will play for 30 minutes and the boys will play for 30 minutes, with a break in between. It is estimated to last two hours.
The event is sponsored by the Class of 2014, but players come from all four grades. Tickets are $3 in advance and $5 at the door. Sophomore class sponsors Negri and Jan Kolk and the class officers have organized the event with respresentatives from AECHS. Proceeds will benefit the prom funds of the Kerr Class of 2014 and the AECHS Class of 2013.
To prepare for the match, the players run through various drills and practice whenever they can, according to senior Sheilat Akapo, who is one of the driving forces behind the soccer match.
“We have practice at the [Alief YMCA] and at Taylor to get a feel of what it’s like to play in a real open field,” she said. “We [also] run drills and play at lunch.”
According to Negri, other teachers also got involved with helping the teams’ practice.
“[Band director Ashley] Siegriest got involved and she helps [with the girls’] practice,” she said. “The boys are in a tournament with Coach [Jorge] Diaz. We do various drills…for the boys, the tournament is their practice, but when they’re done, they go with the girls to practice at Taylor.”
Freshman Albert Djikeng has played soccer with competitive teams in the past, he also hopes to have a fun experience.
“I’ve always played soccer. It’s the number one sport [for me] since I was eight—I like to stay focused, but I don’t take it too seriously,” he said. “This match seems less competitive than I’m used to [but] I feel like school pride is at stake here.”
Negri hopes to have many positive outcomes for the soccer match and wants to make it a Kerr tradition.
“I’m hoping it’s successful enough so that it can be an annual thing,” she said. “I hope we can get some money out of it, I hope that people feel proud to go to Kerr and I hope that we win.”
