Page 84 - South Mississippi Living - May, 2018

SPORTS & OUTDOORS championships
Gulfport High School won the Division 6A State Championship.
St. Stanislaus College won the Division 4A State Championship.
story by Lynn Lofton
photos courtesy of Gulfport High School and St. Stanislaus College
occer is popular on the Mississippi Gulf Coast with scores of young people playing in public and private schools and community programs. The 2017- 2018 season has been outstanding for
Coast high schools with two bringing home championship trophies. Gulfport High School boys won the division 6A state championship and St. Stanislaus College won the division 4A state championship. Long Beach High School also had an outstanding season with the girls and boys teams playing in the division 5A finals. The divisions indicate the size of the schools according to guidelines of the Mississippi High School Activities Association.
Gulfport Coach Henrik Madsen says the school’s team had an amazing year with a record of 18-4-3. “I’m really proud of what the boys accomplished. They put in a lot of work and really bought into each other, trusting and helping each other,” he said. “They stayed positive even when things were difficult.”
Madsen, who started coaching at age 15 in his native Denmark, notes that this was a great year for soccer on the
Coast. “It’s been a long time since we had as many teams in the state playoffs. It’s definitely a growing sport and more young kids are getting involved.”
In Bay St. Louis, the St. Stanislaus boys have a history of winning state championships, scoring nine titles from 1996 to 2018. “Soccer is big in general in the area,” says Athletic Director Stace McRaney. “Kids come to us who play at a high level starting in seventh and eighth grades.”
The school keeps a big roster of 37 on the team, believing that kids learn to play by playing. The junior varsity also plays a full schedule. “There’s a lot of emphasis on those games; they get the kids ready to play varsity,” McRaney said. “We have a pretty good off season program too.”
McRaney says a lot of people think St. Stanislaus has
a large number of international students from countries where soccer dominates sports, but that is no longer true. “We have a strong program and look forward to next year with a good nucleus of players coming back,” he added.
Madsen too looks forward to next year and feels winning this year’s title entices more students to want to play.
84 SOUTH MISSISSIPPI Living • May 2018 FOR MORE REFLECTIONS OF THE GULF COAST >> www.smliving.net