SC Soccer Forums SCSoccer.com Forums Boys Varsity Soccer Article on BE's Lawerence Smith

Here's an article that was in the Charleston paper today:

quote:

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BE soccer standout steps into gridiron greatness

Friday, March 29, 2002
BY PHILIP M. BOWMAN
Of The Post and Courier Staff

It was early August and the Bishop England football team had just completed its camp, a time that tests the mettle and answers questions about every coach's squad. Venerable Jack Cantey, who has been around long enough to have a stadium named after him, saw a glaring weakness: The Bishops lacked a quality placekicker.

Cantey, the former head coach who now serves as an assistant to Jim Daniel, knew the solution, if not the correct terminology. He approached the school's soccer coach Ed Khouri and asked, "Ed, do you have any of those kick-ballers who can play football?"
"Jack," Khouri replied, "I have a kid who can kick the ball 50 yards - with either foot. Yes, I have a kick-baller for you."
Khouri provided the answer and Bishop England had its man. He wasn't exactly Mr. Ambidextrous, but Lawrence Smith was multitalented and had an integral role in the Bishops' 9-3 season last fall. He made 34 of 37 PATs and 5 of 9 field goal attempts, including a 49-yarder. Throw in 31 kickoffs that went for touchbacks and the high school football world discovered what the state's soccer community already knew. Smith, as Khouri says, is the complete package.


Khouri had no doubt that Smith could make the transition from the pitch of the soccer field to the pressures of placekicking.
"You know a soccer player, a fit soccer player, is the most fit athlete in the world," he said. "Soccer players are gutsy and macho, but don't show much emotion. They Smith's 54 career goals two short of Bishop boys' record
don't thump their chests. They keep it inside and do it on the field."


Smith, a junior, is an upstart in football and soon will be the undisputed scoring king in Bishop England soccer history.
He scored 15 goals as a freshman and followed it up with 25 goals and 10 assists last spring to earn All-Lowcountry and Class AA player of the year honors to help the Bishops win state championships both seasons. This spring, the 6-0, 170-pound striker has 14 goals and eight assists in eight games for the 8-0 Bishops, who ventured off to Atlanta to play in a tournament. Smith has 54 career goals, just two shy of the school record set by Temoc Suarez, who scored 56 in three years.
A two-time Parade Magazine High School All-American, Suarez set the standard for prep soccer players in the Lowcountry.
"He's not in the same category as Temoc, but he's right up there with everyone else at Bishop England," Khouri said. "He's strong with good speed, can kick with either foot and goes after it all the time. The kid is just a complete package."

The trip to Atlanta to compete against some of the best teams in the region is a precursor to a journey Smith will make this summer. Khouri will take Smith and 16 other promising club players from the Carolinas to Jamaica to compete against some of the best young players in the hemisphere.
"He's ready for that, to play with the big men. With the experience, he should be way up there," Khouri said, raising his hand to the sky. "When he gets back, everything will be way below his level. He should easily dominate. He should dominate with that experience."
Smith knows all about the international competition because he made the trip a couple of years ago.
"I was so weak," he said. "I really had no idea how the game of soccer was played. In Jamaica, they don't care if they bust your teeth out. They come after you and go for the ball."

Smith has the talent. Khouri just wants to make sure Smith has the toughness. He now admits the reason he sent Smith to the football team was to make him bigger, stronger, faster and tougher.
The football experience mesmerized Smith, who was captivated by soccer. Perhaps he can cross over and star in both sports much like Joey Bowers, a soccer star at Summerville high school who now handles kickoffs for the South Carolina Gamecocks.
The Gamecocks are already interested in Smith as a soccer player, but he wouldn't mind showcasing his talent for USC football coach Lou Holtz.
Smith is a big Holtz fan and even bigger Notre Dame fan. He's already attended a Fighting Irish soccer camp and is being recruited by schools as close as the College of Charleston and as far away as Notre Dame and Syracuse.
"If it's possible, I'd love to do both - play football and soccer," Smith said. "If given the chance to kick in college, that would be a dream come true. Football is like a rush. I guess I'm hooked."

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after reading in these forums over the past year about how BE recruits there best players, I've asked about Smith. all of Smith's family including some great grandparents went to BE. So who are they recruiting? is it the typical jealousy about a good program or because it is a private school? Sounds like a good kid.