Westfield duo earns sterling preseason notices
Oliver, Cleveland attract pundits’ interest as players to watch
Westfield boasts two of the top players in the state.
Defensive lineman Ed Oliver is Dave Campbell’s Texas Football magazine’s preseason Defensive Player of the Year and wide receiver Tyrie Cleveland is a second-team Super Team Offense pick.
“That doesn’t surprise me,” first-year Westfield coach Matt Meekins said of Oliver drawing the mag’s top preseason defensive honor.
“He’s a really good football player and a hard worker and very deserving of that honor.”
Oliver, who pledged to
Houston and former coach Corby Meekins – the new tight ends and fullbacks coach at UH – over the likes of LSU, Alabama, Texas A&M and Oklahoma, supplied 88 tackles last year.
“He’s gotten better this spring and throughout the offseason,” Matt Meekins said. “His motor’s really high, and he’s starting to take over the leadership role of this team, leading his brothers throughout the summer program and spring ball.
“You can tell that his mind’s in the right place and he’s driven to take his game to another level and bring people along with him.”
Cleveland started slow after coming over from Northbrook and still finished with 53 receptions for 1,105 yards and 13 touchdowns, and more is expected from him this year in his second season.
“The expectations are high,” Matt Meekins said. “He’s working hard this summer.
“He was part of the 4x1 team that went to the state track meet … so he didn’t have any contact during spring ball because I didn’t want him to get banged up before the state track meet … but he did all the skill installs during the period leading up to spring ball and looked really good and comfortable.
“He’s been able to add some flavor to his routes because he understands the system that much better, being in it for more than a year.”
FFP leagues
Like a lot of parents, Spring resident Kathy Savell first entered the world of youth sports through her child.
She stayed with Fun-Fair-Positive Soccer because of how they treat all children.
“I like it because every kid gets an opportunity,” said Savell, who’s now FFPS’s director of uniforms. “You don’t have to be an experienced player, you don’t have to be a great player. Even handicap children are able to play.
“We will find a way to put everybody on the field, whether it’s a financial disability – we’ve got a scholarship program – or a medical disability, we will find a way to put them on the field. Even if it’s as a sixth player and their parent has to help out, we will find a way to put every kid on the field.”
That level of equality has fueled the organization’s expansion.
What began in 1986 as a small league founded executive director Jack Hendrie and other concerned parents in Katy has grown into a city-wide operation, with thousands of players across 22 locations.
As many as 25,000 players were expected to enroll this year.
“We play five-side soccer, and we have a rotation system where every child gets to play every position in every game,” Savell said. “We have balanced teams, to where we have an equal number of beginning players and experienced players, so every team has the same odds of winning.
“And then it’s fun, fair and positive. We like to encourage the parents to be positive role models, and say, ‘Good, go, great,’ stuff like that, instead of reprimanding your child because they didn’t make a goal or something.”
FFPS has leagues in the Humble, Kingwood, The Woodlands, Oak Ridge, Magnolia, Katy, Spring, Klein, Tomball and CyFair areas, and Savell said they’re currently considering adding more.
Each league must have a minimum of 100 players to form enough teams for a season.
“We grew, for example, by more than 1,000 players just from the spring to the fall,” Savell said.
Fall registration – FFPS also has a spring season and summer camps – runs through Sept. 22 for a guaranteed spot on a team.
The first games are set for Oct. 10.
The league is open to all players from 4 (as long as they’re 5 by the end of the year) to 18.
For more information, visit www.ffps.org or call 1-800-828-PLAY (7529).
“We have quite a few volunteers answering those phones, so there should always be an opportunity to talk to a human being and ask them questions,” Savell said.
Wildcats head to state 7-on-7
Tomball Memorial opens its trip to the 7-on-7 state tournament against Wylie East at 2 p.m. Friday at the Veterans Park and Athletic Complex in College Station.
Austin Bowie and San Angelo Central also are in the Wildcats’ pool.
The top two teams in each pool advance to championship bracket play Saturday, with the remaining teams going to the consolation bracket.
The Division I championship game is slated for 4 p.m. Saturday.