Newberry players lend hands to County of Newberry youth soccer

NEWBERRY, S.C. - Though the regular season for the Newberry College men’s soccer team began several weeks ago, the squad began another kind of campaign on Tuesday evening - helping the County of Newberry Recreation begin its fall youth soccer season.

Players from the men’s soccer team spent over an hour at the Newberry County Family YMCA offering training tips, supervising drills and sharing encouragement with more than 100 area players who ranged from ages four to 12. The session served to help coaches learn about players and the team will return on Thursday evening for the final session of the evaluation process.

Newberry players will then join teams for weekly practices and help referee weekend games, all of which will total over a combined 1,000 hours throughout the season.

“When you join the team here at Newberry, you make a commitment to the community,” said Newberry head coach Sam Okpodu. “The kids enjoy it, the players enjoy it and the parents do too. It’s a win-win. We're here to help serve where we live.”

Since Okpodu and the team began working with the program four years ago, registration has grown from 30 players to about 175 this year, according to Recreation Director Gerdi Lake.

During the session Tuesday evening, Jordan Walton (Charleston, S.C.) and goalkeeper Daniel Sorrow (Abbeville, S.C.) worked with players on their shooting touch, while at another station David Contee (Sumter, S.C.), Ruyter Rodrigues (Marietta, Ga.) and Scott Busbee (Columbia, S.C.) focused on dribbling and passing skills. Several players, including Adrian Ochoa (East Point, Ga.) and Nathan Arroyo (Atlanta, Ga.) supervised a scrimmage.

“It was great to see everyone happy and smiling,” Ochoa said. “Plus, they were able to feel comfortable with us. Some of the players, like the Hispanic kids, spoke Spanish to me.”

This marks Ochoa’s first year working with the County of Newberry youth soccer program, but other players like Ben Mottel and Nathan Arroyo have several years under their belts.

“You get to be a positive influence,” Mottel said. “You’re able to be a good role model, and that helps the community.”

“It’s all about making the kids happy and having fun,” Arroyo added.

To view more photos from the team's time with the County of Newberry Recreation's youth soccer program, visit the photo gallery.