The Unsung High School Soccer Mid-fielder

By Reece Cooke
The speed, skill and ability to create chances to help their team-mates score goals are the valued assets of a midfielder. The main aim of the central defensive midfielder is to stop and/or beat the opponent and deliver crosses or through-balls to create goal-scoring opportunities. Their speed, skill and ability to create chances from nothing help their teams to score. Their ability to get back and defend is critical to supporting defenses and stopping opponents from scoring.  They dictate the pace, the tempo, the flow of each game. Unfortunately, high school central defensive midfielders typically miss out on the glory, the accolades, and the headlines because our sports culture in the US values the scorer, and the glamour positions that make for the highlights. Even defensive players that come up and score get more press than the sometimes forgotten central defensive midfielder, “the glue”.
This describes high school players like Northern Burlington Regional High School’s captain and senior central defensive midfielder Reece Cooke has been key this season to his team’s resurgence and 6-6-2 record which puts on pace to go to States for the first time in several years.  While not a scoring machine (zero goals this season and two over a four year varsity career), Cooke’s high soccer IQ, vision, defensive skills and ability to make plays for his forwards are all valuable skills that have led to his team’s surprising success this season. With signature shutdown wins such as a 2-0 win over perennial conference power Delran HS, Cooke has been the glue keeping the forwards and defense connected, playing lockdown defense in the middle and contributing both assists in the victory.
It’s time for the soccer public and the press to start appreciating the subtle skills and nuances of the high school game in the middle and the unsung central defensive midfielders who often times contributes more to the actual wins and losses on the scoreboard than the forwards in front of them and the defenders behind them!