Editor:
I was watching my 13-year-old old granddaughter playing soccer recently and had a flashback to 1971 when I moved here. The Rec. Dept. was starting a soccer program in Troutville and the other county communities. There were not many people interested; but, it moved forward.
I was introduced to soccer at Lynchburg College. They had players from New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, etc. because the tuition was much less and they usually beat big college teams. Their coach was on the cover of Sports Illustrated much later as the winningest coach in the country. I learned to play in phys ed and pick up games. I had played football, baseball and basketball before.
People in the area were against it (soccer) and thought it took away the football players. I became the first coach for Troutville and had a team of 12 with two girls that were allowed to play. Needless to say, those kids were not going to play football.
At the time, Postmaster Richard Rock was athletic director and he was the keeper of the sports equipment and he was the only one who would open the shed and let us have soccer balls.
The parents did not have a clue and yelled at the refs anyway. It was fun and the kids enjoyed playing. I talked two of the kids to come to a game sick and walked on the field so we could start the game and they walked off and we played with nine that game.
Forty-seven years sure went by fast.
Mike Adams
Daleville
