Published: 09:04 PM, Wed Jun 13, 2012
Jack Britt's Ali Heath named girls' soccer Region Player of the Year
By Earl Vaughan Jr.
Scholastic sports editor
Living in a military family, Jack Britt soccer player Ali Heath hasn't gotten the chance to put down a lot of local roots as her family has literally traveled the world.
But Heath thinks that experience has helped, not hurt, her development as a soccer player. It's hard to argue after the season she enjoyed at Jack Britt this year, scoring a county-best 33 goals.
For her performance, she is The Fayetteville Observer's All-Cape Fear region soccer player of the year.
Pine Forest's Isaac Rancour, who took an undermanned Trojan team and led it to a winning record and a berth in the state 4-A playoffs, is the region's soccer coach of the year.
Heath's career at Jack Britt is ending after just two seasons. She and her family are relocating again, this time to Stafford, Va..
Britt soccer coach Natt Bunphithak first got a look at Heath when she enrolled at John Griffin Middle School a couple of years ago.
He was immediately impressed with Heath's speed, ability with the ball and understanding of the game.
"For her size, she played bigger,'' he said. "It was hard to contain her with her speed. She can strike the ball from any distance, left and right.''
Heath said she's been exposed to lots of different coaching styles, from New York to Kansas.
"Everyone coaches differently and you learn different things,'' she said.
She expects to continue the learning process next season in Virginia. The school she will attend is in the state playoffs in soccer, she said.
"I've watched them practice,'' she said. "They're a good team. The club team I'm playing for there is at a whole other level.''
Although only a sophomore, Heath is already looking toward playing college soccer.
"I want to go anywhere I can play soccer,'' she said. "If I can play soccer, I'll go there.''
Rancour builds pride
Pine Forest soccer coach Isaac Rancour knows there isn't a rich tradition in the sport at his school. But that doesn't mean his players can't have pride in playing there, and that's something he tries hard to cultivate.
"I try to reach out to the younger kids in the recreation programs,'' he said, "so they want to stay here and play hard for the school.''
Turnover is sometimes a problem with soccer coaches in Cumberland County. But Rancour has been at Pine Forest for seven years now, so he's familiar to players in the program, and he thinks that helps.
He also thinks it helps him try to grow the program as he encourages his players to get involved in offseason, year-round soccer.
"A lot of the players at Jack Britt and Terry Sanford come out of the club system,'' he said. "This year, we had a lot of girls playing club soccer, and they were my leaders. It's nice to have good leadership.''
Rancour hopes the seeds have been planted for the offseason commitment by his players to grow.
"This year, the players really bought into it,'' he said. "We can do it. We can win.''
Scholastic sports editor Earl Vaughan Jr. can be reached at vaughane@fayobserver.com or 486-3519.