Just plain wrong

I’m going to preface today’s column by acknowledging that I’m no expert on the sport of soccer. I’m sure many of you who read this are far more knowledgeable about the game.

But even with my relative lack of expertise about soccer, I know enough to understand what I witnessed on May 20 at Estes Stadium in Conway.

The Green Forest Tigers won their third state championship that day in Conway, and they did it in dominant fashion. The Tigers beat Haas Hall Academy of Bentonville 4-1 to win their second Class 3A state championship in the past three years, to go along with the Class 4A crown they claimed in 2014.

It was a complete team effort for the Tigers, but the performance of three players in particular stood out — seniors Izaak Merida, Elvin Montoya and Jesus “Chuy” Romero.

Merida, who had been injured in a semifinal game a week earlier against Central Arkansas Christian, was limited in the championship game. But that didn’t stop him from scoring the game’s first goal and giving Green Forest some confidence and momentum against a Huskies team that had played the Tigers to a tie early in the season and beaten them more recently.

Montoya was rightly selected as the Most Valuable Player of the championship game. Montoya simply controlled the game for Green Forest with his ball handling and playmaking. He was the single most dominant player on the field and he set the tone for a Tigers attack that struck the perfect balance between patience and aggression.

With Montoya serving as the field general for Green Forest, goalkeeper Romero wasn’t challenged often. But when he was, he rose to the occasion, just as he did throughout the state tournament. In four games against the top competition in the state, Romero allowed a grand total of two goals — one each by Central Arkansas Christian in the semifinals and Haas Hall in the championship game. For comparison’s sake, Central Arkansas Christian scored a total of eight goals in its first two state tournament games. Haas Hall scored 11 goals in three games before running into Romero and the Tigers.

Clearly, Green Forest was the best Class 3A boys soccer team in the state at the end of the season, when it mattered most. Merida, Montoya and Romero were big reasons why, and they deserve the honors and recognition that go along with a state championship.

And now we get to the real reason behind this column — the disappointment and frustration that’s being felt in Green Forest (and behind this keyboard) after Merida, Montoya and Romero were not selected to play in this summer’s Arkansas High School Coaches Association All-Star Game. Nor was Green Forest coach Adam Richter selected to serve as either head coach or an assistant coach for the West All-Stars.

The head coaches for the All-Star game, in fact, are Central Arkansas Christian’s Billy Sullivan and Haas Hall Bentonville’s Eric Powers. In addition to being the All-Star head coaches, Sullivan and Powers have another thing in common: Both of their teams were eliminated from the state tournament by Adam Richter’s Green Forest Tigers. And I’d be remiss if I didn’t also mention volunteer assistant Fernando Fuentes, who also played a key role in the Tigers’ success.

Haas Hall, by the way, has two players on the West boys all-star roster. One CAC player is on the East roster.

So, three players and two coaches whose teams were beaten by Green Forest are on all-star rosters while the Tigers were completely snubbed.

Yes, Green Forest had four players named to the Class 3A All-State team — Merida, Montoya and Romero, along with freshman Jonathan Rivera. Those honors were well-deserved.

But the fact is — and I don’t see how the point can even be argued — that Merida, Montoya and Romero rightly deserve to be on the West All-Star rosters. And Richter should be a part of the All-Star coaching staff.

I’m sure there’s a reason behind the snubs. Maybe it’s sour grapes. Maybe it has to do with the chasm between public and private schools in Arkansas high school sports — a problem that needs to be addressed and that is obvious in soccer more than any other sport. Or maybe it’s something even more disturbing.

The bottom line is, young people are being robbed of the opportunities and recognition they deserve. It’s senseless. It’s cruel. And it’s wrong.

The good news for Izaak Merida, Elvin Montoya, Chuy Romero and Adam Richter is this: They can’t take away your trophy, they can’t take away your rings, they can’t take away your pride in your accomplishments and they can’t take away what everyone who watched you perform knows to be the truth. You’re All-Stars, every one.

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Scott Loftis is editor and publisher of the Carroll County News. His email address is SLoftis@CarrollCoNews.com.