THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, June 18, 1994 TAG: 9406180329
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C6 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY RICH RADFORD, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: 940618 LENGTH: VIRGINIA BEACH
``My father (John) played for England's under-21 national team and later played for Grimsby Town, a Division II pro team in my hometown,'' Waite said. ``I guess you could say he's soccer mad, he loves it. But he never put pressure on me to play.''
{REST} Didn't need to. Like his 52-year-old father, Waite had the fever without any help. When he wasn't watching the hometown team, he'd sneak off to the sacred soccer grounds at Wembley Stadium to watch his favorite team, Manchester United, whenever he could.
It's easy to tell Waite loves soccer when he takes the field for the Hurricanes, as he will tonight when the Charleston Battery visit the Hurricanes at Center for Effective Learning for a 7:30 game.
Waite, who has scored three goals this season for the Hurricanes, has used that love of the game to establish himself as the team's leading candidate for a spot on the Atlantic Division All-Star squad, which will meet a team of USISL All-Stars July 6 at CEL. All-Star teams are expected to be announced early next week.
``Really, I should have seven or eight goals,'' Waite said. ``I've missed on some opportunities, hitting the crossbar or the post. I've got to get that left foot of mine going. All three of my goals have been on headers.''
Still, if anyone knows about scoring goals, it's Waite.
At Lock Haven University, Waite set career records for goals (57) and assists (33) while being named a first-team Division II All-American.
And yet, the Hurricanes were the only USISL team to offer Waite a chance to play, and then only because Hurricanes assistant coach Shawn McDonald had seen him play one exhibition game for Lock Haven against the Old Dominion University Monarchs last summer.
``The thing about Waite is that he was a find,'' Hurricanes coach Sonny Travis said. ``Shawn remembered him from a scrimmage game.''
Waite laughs about those prospects.
``To be honest, I wasn't playing that day to impress anybody,'' said Waite, who is assisting with the coaching of two local youth teams between Hurricanes games. ``I came down looking forward to going to the beach.
``It was a stroke of luck for Shawn to remember me from that one game. But I did score a goal on a shot from 30 yards. I hoped when I got here that Shawn didn't expect me to score from 30 yards all the time. That was a once-in-a-lifetime shot.
``It's strange to look back at the little things that got me here.''
Waite said he'll return to Grimsby in the fall and might try out for that same franchise for which his father once played.
But he would rather land a graduate assistant coaching job in the U.S. and continue playing for the Hurricanes.
``I'd love to come back here and play next year,'' Waite said. ``So far, it's been a great experience.''
by CNB