‘IT MEANS EVERYTHING’
Miami Edison girls’ dream season goes far beyond soccer success
The sun has set on a typical weeknight at Little Haiti Soccer Park.
Miami Edison girls’ soccer coach Wilnord Emile is on the phone, deep in conversation while his players slowly arrive to practice.
Only about five or six are here and practice was supposed to start half an hour earlier.
A few others are taking the Metrobus from where they live — a few miles away — to get to practice.
Most of Emile’s players often don’t have a ride to or from the park.
One of them realized after arriving at practice that the only cleats she has available are two that only fit her right foot.
Emile and his players make do with who and what they have to start the session.
This is a typical day for the remarkable Miami Edison girls’ soccer team.
A team that is making history. The Red Raiders are undefeated after 16 matches.
On Wednesday night, Edison is playing for a regional championship and the right to go to the state finals for the first time ever when it travels to Davie to play NSU University School at 6 p.m. at AutoNation Field.
“It means everything,” Emile said.
Emile isn’t exaggerating when he says that and speaks of his team’s accomplishments in spite of its struggles.
Lack of proper equipment is just the start of what the Red Raiders constantly have to overcome on and off the field.
Nine of the 17 players on Edison’s team, composed entirely of Haitian players, were homeless when they emigrated from
‘‘ MY MOM IS SO HAPPY THAT I’VE BEEN ABLE TO CONTINUE PLAYING. Senior Miami Edison defender Ketchmay Michel, whose mother stayed behind in Haiti after sending her daughter to Miami to escape the island’s violence