Young Warriors
THOMASVILLE — Brookwood’s soccer teams are stacking their rosters with pure soccer talent. They’re on the young side for 2018, but the Warriors hope that they can play beyond their years this season.In head coach Eddie Foy’s tenure, a lot of his teams have been a conglomerate of players from different sports. He’s beginning to see that change.
“This is probably the first year with the boys and girls have had majority soccer players on the team,” Foy said. “In the past, we’ve had a mix of players where football or basketball may have been their first sports. We’re trying to develop a squad here now where soccer’s their first sport and is something they’re very passionate about.”
That’s certainly very true for the boys, who are coming off a rebuilding year after reaching the state final four in 2016. Brookwood reached the playoffs in 2017 but lost in the first round.
A lot of people on the team last year were new to the sport of soccer, but a lot of that group has graduated. The Warriors’ boys will be comprised of key freshmen Nathan Yokley, Simms Ladson and Emmitt Miles.
Brookwood will also have three returning seniors as captains in Tyler Clark, Marshall Jones and Preston Young, who has been the GISA Region 3-3A player of the year for the last two seasons.
“He’s a player that has the ability to go play at college,” Foy said. “He’s just a very technical, talented player.
To receive all-state and all-region two years in a row, he’s done a fantastic job.”
Brookwood’s girls go into the 2018 season with a lot of promise.
Last season was a rebound year for them, as they finished second in theregion behind Deerfield-Windsor. The Warrior girls lost three key seniors but bring back some good players,including Mollie Vick, Anna Vick and leading scorer Holland Waker, both sophomores. Caroline Elkins is a new face coming over from Cairo that Brookwood is excited to see in action. “We’re just building on the strength that we had last year, another year of experience with those young girls,” Foy said. “We’re excited. The girls are looking very promising.”
Brookwood’s teams will begin the season with some challenging matchups. It will host Augusta Prep at home to begin its season on Friday, the defending GISA Class 3A girls champion. They’ll then travel to face Westminster — the boys champion — before hosting Thomasville on March 6.
“It’s a good opportunity to test ourselves again to see how far we’ve come,” Foy said. “It may be a challenge this year because we are young, but like I said, we’ve got a lot of soccer experience. We’re excited.”
Brookwood School
Located in Thomasville, GA, Brookwood School is a private school for grades JK-12. Students benefit from a challenging academic program, fine and performing arts, competitive athletics, and a wide selection of extracurricular activities.