Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, July 11, 1995                   TAG: 9507110055
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: B-1   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: M.J DOUGHERTY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

BLACKSBURG'S FREEMAN JUST HAPPY TO BE PLAYING

Jon Freeman isn't quite sure where he will be playing Wednesday night.

Freeman figures he'll find out what his responsibilities will be when practice starts today. He just plans to do whatever is needed when the initial Virginia High School Coaches' Association all-star soccer match is played Wednesday night at Darling Stadium in Hampton.

``In all, I don't know - I could be playing midfield,'' said Freeman, the stopper back on Blacksburg High's Group AA champion team. ``I just want to get focused and get ready for wherever they [the coaches] decide to put me. If they put me at midfield, I'll be happy. If they put me at stopper, I'll be happy. I don't care. I just have to stay focused.''

Actually, Freeman is just happy to be one of the 19 players on the West squad. He is listed as one of the 10 backs or fullbacks on the roster. And he is one of two Blacksburg players on the team. Midfielder Mark Decker is the other.

``I was really surprised, I thought they would take only one from our school,'' Freeman said. ``When coach [Shelley Blumenthal] told me, I was flabbergastered. I thought they would only take Mark.''

However, the selection didn't catch Blumenthal off-guard.

``A couple of coaches on the selection committee had seen him play and had remembered him,'' said Blumenthal. ``In this type of game, his position [back] helps him. A lot of people come into a game with big offensive numbers. The teams need someone who can play defense as well. And Jon can play all four back positions - that helps him.''

This season, Freeman started in midfield. But after one game it became obvious the Blacksburg defense needed a little something extra to put it over the top. That something was Freeman.

After Freeman took over at stopper, Blacksburg gave up 11 goals in 18 matches en route to the state title. ``He is an expliary leader,'' said Blumenthal. ``And not just by example. When he has something to say, he says it. And they guys listen.

``He is the backbone [of the defense] - no question,'' Blumenthal said. ``We've got players who maybe have more technical skill. But when you talk about his strengths, you talk about what you need in a back. He really solidified our defense. Jon is a leader.''

Those leadership skills appear when Freeman gains possession of a ball that could have gone to either team, when he outjumps taller players and heads the ball out of harm's way, and when he makes the pass to start the offense upfield.

Freeman also has shown his leadership skills off the field. For the past five years, he has worked at a soccer camp in Ahoskie, N.C. ``After my eighth-grade year, my aunt Mari Mileur, asked me if I would help [get] soccer started in her hometown,'' Freeman explained. "She got it all set up through the recreation department. The first year, 13 kids showed up. The next year, we had around 20. The year after that about 50.

``This year, we had about 80 kids and we were competing with a basketball camp. The year before that it was 125.''After Wednesday night's game, Freeman will resume his busy summer schedule: work in the morning, workouts in the afternoon and working on soccer skills in the evening.Then i

In the fall, it's off to the College of Wooster in Ohio. Freeman plans to study biology. And he plans to try out for the soccer team at the NCAA Division III school. And like Wednesday's all-star game, he doesn't know where he'll be needed, all he wants is to play.