STATE EXTRA: Wilson’s 3 seniors love to lead the youth

EASTVILLE

Wilson Memorial made its run to the Group A tournament with only three seniors – and only one starts.

But the seniors kept the team together and now Wilson is going to Radford.

Laura Trask, Courtney Sims and Dee Deacon are the team’s captains, leading a group of mostly underclassmen and juniors in practice and helping motivate the team during games.

“There is a lot of senior leadership, the underclassmen are very cooperative with us,” Sims said. “For underclassmen they are very mature.”

Now in the postseason, every game might be the team’s last.

As the season draws closer and closer to its conclusion – the Green Hornets can, at most, play two more games – the seniors look at the future and current stars of the team and think that they are leaving their legacy in good hands.

“The next few years they are going to be really, really good,” Trask said. “The majority of our team is sophomores and I think we are only going to get better.”

Deacon, who has been involved in Wilson athletics every season, said that this soccer season stood out.

“We have a really successful senior class and won a lot of district championships,” she said. “This has been my favorite season though. I don’t know if it is because it’s my last year or because of the success we are having.”

Trask, who labels herself as the team’s motivator, said that, even though she doesn’t always play, her leadership helps the team from a supportive role.

“We always try to pick up the girls and give constructive criticism and I think that helps with leadership,” she said.

On Tuesday, the Green Hornets needed that extra pickup even more as they struggled to keep their energy level up against the Yellow Jackets.

Wilson won the match 3-0 to advance to Friday’s Group A semifinal round.

“Sometimes it can be frustrating to play with girls who don’t love the game as much as you do, but I’ve never felt that way with this group,” Deacon said. “You can’t pick juniors and sophomores on the field. We all play at the same age with the same maturity.”