THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, May 15, 1996 TAG: 9605150616
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C6 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: ATHLETES OF THE WEEK
SOURCE: BY PAUL WHITE, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 54 lines
Green Run's girls soccer team didn't win a game last week. Its leading scorer, Claudia Watt, didn't score a goal. And the Stallions didn't come close to qualifying for this week's Beach District tournament.
So what did Watt do to deserve The Virginian-Pilot's Athlete of the Week award?
Only the types of things that prevent a struggling team from mailing in its efforts, opting instead to take the field with the belief that by looking to improve instead of looking at the scoreboard, the future should be a whole lot brighter.
Watt, a member of the Under-19 Olympic Development Team and one of only two travel-league soccer players in a district where such players are the norm on some teams, realized on opening day that her Stallions were too inexperienced to seriously challenge the heavyweights of the Eastern Region's toughest district. But instead of bemoaning the fate of not being raised in the Cox zone, the Stallions' senior challenged herself to extract maximum effort from every single Stallion.
During practices, Watt helped coach the team. During games, the senior and four-year starter accepted a shift from defender to center-midfield and scored a team-high 11 goals - one more than she notched in her three previous seasons combined. In fact, she figured in 75 percent of all Green Run goals. She even embraced her role as captain, at times startling even herself by launching fiery commands at her teammates.
According to Green Run coach Ken Bradley, Watt's impact on the youthful team has been incalculable.
``She's been our heart and soul,'' Bradley said. ``I don't know what we would have done without Claudia.''
The standings suggest the Stallions weren't able to do a whole lot with Claudia. Only Ocean Lakes, a second-year school, logged a worse mark than Green Run's 1-7-1 in the talent-rich Beach District. But Watt believes the record speaks mainly to the quality of the district and offers the Stallions' 4-2 non-league mark as evidence.
A member of the National Honor Society, Watt has a partial scholarship to attend Longwood College and projects as a first-year starter on the school's soccer team. But while she'll be playing with more experienced players in the fall, Watt says she'll never forget her experiences with the Stallions.
``We always had a ton of fun,'' she said. ``Even though we didn't win much, I loved playing with these guys.'' ILLUSTRATION: Claudia Witt
Green Run
by CNB