If you were to go back and study a history of South Georgia athletics, you would likely find that our teams have competed favorably on the state level in football, baseball, and from time to time, in basketball. The metro Atlanta area has typically dominated the so-called minor sports (which aren’t minor at all) – golf, tennis, soccer, swimming, track, cross country, and the like. In recent years, however, things have signs of evening out, at least a little.
More and more of our athletes and teams have discovered the importance of playing year ‘round. Golfers and tennis players are competing throughout the year on the various junior tours. Swimmers and runners are stepping up their games as well. But maybe the most significant improvements can be seen on the pitch. The most popular sport in the world took a while to get to South Georgia. Once here, it took a few years to gain traction. Now, some of the best players in the country can be found right here in our area.
Two of the best are Luke Pelkowski and Elizabeth Lott, both Lowndes Vikings. Pelkowski is a freshman on the region champion Vikings while Lott is a junior for the second place Vikettes. Both players are three-year veterans of the state Olympic Development Program, which is the vehicle through which US Soccer chooses its national team.
Players try out for the state ODP team and, if selected, move on to region. Ten states make up Georgia’s region and region camp takes place in Alabama. Following the week-long region camp, a pool of players stay for holdovers. At holdovers, another pool of players will be selected; it is from this group that the national team will come.
Region camp is a grueling process. Kids compete against the best players from other states and the competition is like nothing else many of them have previously seen. Coaches aren’t necessarily looking for size, strength, or even conditioning. Instead, they are looking at how well the players compete in confined spaces, what happens on their first touch, and how they perform in the clutch. Region games are grueling – the speed is faster, the ball stays in play much longer, and players have less time to recover. First touches have to be almost flawless; elite level players take advantage of mistakes and there isn’t time for make up for any miscues. The speed of the game and the smaller spaces in which the tryouts equalize any advantage that size, strength, and speed may give a prospective player. “It’s a great experience playing at this level. There are a ton of college and national coaches watching. It’s great getting to play against the best players in the country,” says Lott.
Coaches are looking for soccer-specific ability and ambition instead of raw athleticism. In high school games and even in some club tournaments, teams are made up of players with varying levels of skill and experience. Athletic ability and general fitness can go a long way in those games. To make ODP, however, and advance from state to region to the national pool requires something more. And Lott and Pelkowski have those qualities. They are aggressive yet smart players who see the field well. They can both see the game developing in front of them and they not only know where they need to be but where their teammates need to be as well. And they keep their mistakes to a minimum. They handle the ball well, distribute accurately, and make the most out of on-the-field opportunities.
Both Pelkowski and Lott were selected to attend ODP Nationals with their region teams (1999 Boys for Pelkowski, 1998 Girls for Lott) after region camp last summer. Both were on the rosters of their teams, which played in Phoenix, Arizona, in February, and both played while in Arizona (Lott and Pelkowski each played center back for their respective teams). The 98 Girls team defeated Eastern New York to win the bronze medal.
The journey for these two young soccer players is far from over but the sky is literally the limit for them. They have played against the best players in the country in front of the best coaches in the country. That is by no means a guarantee of future success – Lott and Pelkowski have to keep working, keep playing, keep practicing, and keep making good decisions – but they are well ahead of the curve. And they have shown that South Georgia soccer players can play with the best the United States has to offer. “We’ve got five boys from our area who have made the ODP Georgia team. These kids have been playing as well as the kids in Atlanta have been for a while. It’s about time somebody paid attention,” says Kim Pelkowski, Luke’s mother.
Special Feature/South Georgia/June 2015
Luke Pelkowski and Elizabeth Lott
Lowndes High School
Valdosta, Georgia
by Robert Preston Jr.
Photography by Micki K Photography
