Kyle O'Connor has been mentioned in a previous blog...and rightfully so. Kyle made his mark as middle school soccer leader when he started and played outside defender to replace Adam Wickham at the last two practice days of the'04 season. Adam, the heroic deceased eighth grader, was replaced by Kyle, a seventh grader, in the Andrew Lewis game which assured Byrd Middle at least a tie for first place as we handily won the last '04 seasonal game.

What was more important was that Kyle's performance was like Adam's in that Kyle played the entire game and did it well with only two days of complete practice. Kyle was a young, quiet, unassuming, but very alert defender who fought well and held his own. This coach noticed how well Kyle did during the game and made everyone available realize Kyle's impact in that game.

Even more importantly, Kyle (if my memory is correct) stayed with high school soccer ending up as a starter and running well in track/cross country. Kyle has been faithful by keeping in email contact with this coach and being a trusty soccer player who also in school played the role of rec soccer official.