Sports 18

Soccer is one of the only things that has re-mained constant for Fabio Sanchez.

Sanchez, a Colombian native, moved to Kirk-wood with his family this past July unsure of what his future would hold. He was just beginning to learn English and did not know many people. He turned to soccer to ease the transition.

Sanchez has played soccer for six years. Five in Colombia, where soccer is the most popular sport, and now as a forward for the KHS varsity soccer team. While soccer has proven to be a foundation of Sanchez’s life, it also has exposed the difficulties he has faced moving to a new country.

“It’s hard to communicate with everyone,” San-chez, junior, said. “I’m getting better, but it’s still dif-ficult to understand my coaches.”

Chris Steinmetz, KHS varsity soccer head coach, acknowledges that Sanchez’s biggest hurdle has been overcoming the language barrier and adjust-ing to life at KHS.

“The last three weeks with Fabio have been just trying to get him accustomed to our routines,” Steinmetz said. “He gets along with everybody on the team. The only difference is that he’s in a com-pletely new place.”

Aside from learning a new language, Sanchez has also been forced to adjust to a new game style. Colombian soccer is much different from Kirk-wood’s style of play, Sanchez said. Sanchez played with short passes in Colombia while Steinmetz fa-

Foreign athletes f ind home at KHSFive athletes, each from different parts of the world, have arrived at KHS. These foreigners have swapped their passports for practice cards and joined a variety of Pioneer sports

teams. They have overcome many challenges while competing at a different level at KHS.

vors longer passes.Sanchez’s teammates agree the change of style

has been difficult.“He really has made the transition well, but you

can tell he’s still adjusting to Kirkwood’s specific style of play,” Deion Corley, junior goalie, said.

Steinmetz agrees, saying his new soccer strat-egy is completely different from the style Sanchez grew up with in Colombia. However, Steinmetz also thinks Sanchez will quickly catch on if he works hard at it.

“He’s just trying to find himself at Kirkwood,” Steinmetz said. “The more time he spends around the guys, the more comfortable he’s going to get.”

While Sanchez is facing many challenges in his new surroundings, he also sees the positives in his situation. He hopes to play soccer well enough to earn a college scholarship. Sanchez scored his first goal in the U.S. during the second half of a 6-0 win against Mehlville Aug. 28.

Sanchez also sees the potential in the KHS soccer team that is ranked just outside the St. Louis Post-Dispatch top 10 with a record of 5 - 3 as of Sept. 14.

“Many players have good ability here,” Sanchez said. “They have been cool to me and I think we can win a lot of games this year.”

Although Sanchez has faced a steep learning curve, he said his teammates have been welcoming and supportive. Team chemistry is not an issue ac-cording to the team.

“Our chemistry is completely unaffected,” Cor-ley said. “Fabio blends in with all of us and has been a great addition to this team.”

Fabio Sanchez, Colombia

Luìza Mendes, Brazil

Luìza Mendes is walking on a new home turf 5,000 miles away from home.

She is an exchange student from Brazil and moved to Kirkwood just one month ago. Mendes is playing field hockey for her first time.

Mendes, junior, signed up for field hockey this fall trying to find her way at KHS. She plays on C-Team, which teaches beginning players the basics of the game.

“I love field hockey so far,” Mendes, forward, said. “Nobody really knew how to play at first so ev-eryone is learning together.”

Mendes is catching on quickly to the English lan-guage, she said. Her coaches and teammates have had few communication issues despite her having grown up speaking Portuguese.

Katie Martin, head C-Team field hockey coach, said Mendes speaks English well and has been an eager learner.

“There are absolutely no communication is-sues,” Martin said. “Luìza understands all of the field hockey strategy that we give her.”

Teammates have taken a quick liking to Mendes.

Martin said assimilating into the team culture has been natural.

“All the players love her,” Martin said. “They’re all very interested in her unique backstory but also are trying to make her feel at home.”

For Mendes, the experience of playing a KHS sport has been nothing but positive. In addition to making friends, she has also displayed persever-ance and a sociable personality. Martin thinks the social aspects of field hockey are the biggest help to Mendes.

“The whole team is benefitting from Luìza’s unique perspective,” Martin said. “She’s gaining valuable social skills every day.”

Mendes’ expectations for the season are simple: win a lot of games. However, Martin said her goals for Mendes and the rest of the team are also simple.

“I want all the girls to master the basic skills of field hockey,” Martin said. “But I also just want them to walk away after the season is over with a good experience.”

For Mendes, field hockey has been a great am-bassador to Kirkwood. She only moved to Kirkwood a month ago but she already feels comfortable.

“Everything is great,” Mendes said. “I like Kirk-wood. It’s a beautiful city.”

Woody Kippsports writer

Woody Kippsports writer

Name: Fabio Esteban Sanchez Diaz

Jersey number: 11

Position: forward/midfield

Born in: Bogotá, Colombia

Previous high school: Gimnasio Los Andes in Pasto, Narino

Name: Luìza Mendes

Born in: Belém, Brazil

Position:forward

Jersey number: 45

Name: Fatima Noor

Born in: Pesha-war, Pakistan

Birth Date: April 16, 1997

Sport: girls’ cross country

Nala Turner artist

Andrea Keltz photographer

Zach Ortiz photographer

19SportsSeptember 19, 2012

When Blake Goddard received word his father accepted a job in St. Louis, the news of moving did not sit well. All Goddard knew about KHS was it was a big school and good at football.

“I was a little depressed for a while when I knew I was leaving everything that I’m used to,” Goddard, junior and former Festus resi-dent, said. “But I figured out where I was going and became pretty happy about it.”

Goddard had been the varsity starting quarterback for the Festus Tigers before his transfer. His new KHS teammates knew about his skill set before his first summer practice.

“We were all impressed,” Luke Beattie, senior and varsity right guard, said. “We all watched his highlight films before he showed up. He put up some solid numbers as the start-ing quarterback on Festus varsity.”

Now on KHS varsity, Goddard has a new role starting as a linebacker on defense and is one of three quarterbacks on the roster. He re-corded a fumble recovery in a 32-22 comeback victory over Hazelwood East Sept. 2.

Head Coach Matt Irvin praises Goddard’s work ethic, stating it is a big reason why he has been well received by all of his new coaches and teammates.

“I haven’t seen many kids with a work ethic like Blake,” Beattie said. “He lifts more and works harder than almost any other kid on the team.”

Goddard thanks Irvin for the help he has provided in his transition, especially in the weight room and learning the playbook.

“I love [Kirkwood],” Goddard said. “I love my classes. I love my teachers. Everyone has really put me in my place. No complaints. Ev-erything has been perfect.”

Beattie said Goddard is a modest, hard worker which is why his teammate was so quick to learn the playbook and gain a spot as a starting linebacker.

“Any kid to move over the summer and have a starting job as a junior means he’s made a pretty good transition,” Beattie said.

John Aschbachersports writer

Foreign athletes f ind home at KHS

Abdul Hassan, Kenya

Fatima Noor, Pakistan Blake Goddard, Festus, MO

Fatima Noor, sophomore, is a foreign exchange student from Pakistan at KHS on the Kennedy Lugar YES Scholarship along with 107 other students in high schools across America.

This is the 10th year students from Pakistan have come to the U.S. on this scholarship. Noor is living with a host family during her stay at Kirkwood, or-ganized by the American Field Service (AFS) which recruits students and finds host families for the scholars. Noor currently runs JV girls’ cross country, something completely new to her.

“I didn’t even know what cross country was, but when I arrived here my host mom recommended it to me,” Noor said.

Noor said she likes to try new things, so joining a new sport that she had never heard of was inviting, but challenging as well.

“I am very new in this field of sports, so this was very frightening to me,” Noor said.

Besides being in a new country, Noor faced the challenges of joining a completely new team.

“I was afraid to talk to [my teammates] before I met them, but at the very first day my coach in-troduced me to the whole team, and that was quite helpful,” Noor said.

With the help of her coaches, Noor has been able to branch out and meet new people on the cross country team.

“She was quiet, but eager to make friends,” Pam Harris, head girls’ cross country coach, said. “Fati-ma is a hard-worker and is very dedicated to get better and better each day.”

Noor has made new friends and impressed the coaches with her hard work and perseverance.

“[My teammates] are my favorite now,” Noor said. “They are so friendly and cooperative, as well as the coaches. I love my team and coaches be-cause they are like a family to me.”

JV cross country has helped her with some of the struggles of joining a new school, such as making new friends and learning new customs.

“When I was coming here I was really afraid about the nature of people, but as I arrived here and started cross country, my mind was complete-ly clear after talking to the cross country girls,” Noor said.

She has made a bond with the team and found a sport she truly enjoys. Noor’s favorite part about being at Kirkwood is the friendliness of both the students and teachers.

“She’s quite a trooper,” Harris said. “She does everything she’s asked and does it with a smile on her face.

John Aschbachersports writer

“Everybody loves Abdul,” Marcus Griggs, junior, said. “He fits really well on the team.”

Hassan said the style of play in America is similar in Kenya, which provides him with a sense of com-fort out on the field.

Hassan plays midfield as well as forward, mak-ing him a versatile player for KHS. In his first year on varsity, Abdul has hit the ground running. Hassan said the most challenging part about varsity is the increase of pace.

The KHS varsity soccer team was ranked 13th in the stlhighschoolsports.com preseason ranking. They won their first three games of the season and have a record of 5-3 as of Sept. 14.

“My goal is to win as many games as we can and to win state,” Hassan said.

The team started kick-arounds in June, which helped with team chemistry. Hassan said one of the biggest differences playing at KHS than in Kenya, however, are the training sessions.

“I think in the beginning it was hard for him, but now that he has made friends, he likes it,” Griggs said. “Every team could use a guy like him.”

Name: Abdul Hassan

Born in: Nairobi, Kenya

Position: midfield/forward

Jersey number: 17

Nala Turner artist

Andrea Keltz photographer

Zach Ortiz photographer

Kevin Campbell photographer

Check out The Kirkwood Call’s Sports Center, up-dated daily with all KHS sports schedules and scores. visit thekirkwoodcall.com/sports-center/

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Call

Daniel Wittsports editor

Although Abdul Hassan had been playing soccer for as long as he can remember, he became uncer-tain after learning he would be playing his favorite sport in a new country.

Hassan, senior, moved to Kirkwood from Kenya the summer of 2011 and is now playing varsity soc-cer. His family made the move as a result of Has-san’s parents getting jobs in St. Louis.

“I was sad that I was leaving my life behind,” Hassan said. “But I was looking forward to starting a new chapter.”

Hassan always had a passion for soccer, so when he came to Kirkwood, he wanted to pick up where he left off.

Hassan speaks fluent English which helped cre-ate strong team chemistry.

“He understands everything,” Chris Steinmetz, varsity coach, said. “And is a super polite guy.”

According to his teammates, Hassan has made the transition to his new team smoothly.