by Leah Schroeder‘13

Five years ago, physical education  teacher Gene Orndorff created intramural soccer after a number of ESOL students expressed interest. The program initially attracted enough participants for four teams. Now, it has grown to eight teams with a total of 60 participants, half of which are ESOL students.

In the second round of the intramural soccer tournament, clockwise from left, Andrew Burlin defends Abraham Solaimanpour, Burlin scores a goal, Jabril Omar catches a shot on goal, Choul Min Park-Zuniga defends Mauriccio Navarrete, Navarrete prepares to kick and Brad Kuntzman walks down the field followed by Navarrete. Photo by Brett Melnick ‘12

      “We have 20 to 30 countries in the school that have a soccer background and they have a camaraderie amongst themselves … When they break down into teams, there might be a Latin team, an African team and a French team,” said Orndorff. “This gives them an opportunity to play competitively against each other in a sport they are good at.”

      The activity offers any student the chance to play “the world’s game.” For the convenience of ESOL students, games are held during lunch and after school on the days on which the activity buses run. Most ESOL students rely on the activity bus for transportation home from after-school activities.

      “[Intramural soccer] allows [ESOL students] to participate in a sport they all love without the costs associated with playing on a school team.  It also gives them a positive venue for socializing,” said ESOL resource teacher Laura Bernard-Sanchez.

      Juniors Renzo Fuentes and Eduardo Duron Salgado and freshman Thierry Tommy Kondjang all served as team captains this year and are all current or exited ESOL students. Kondjang and Fuentes have participated in intramural soccer for the past two years while Duron Salgado is new to the activity.

       “People say that if you are Hispanic, you play soccer, but I play it because I like it,” said Fuentes.

      Duron Salgado similarly cites his culture and his friends as the reasons for his participation in soccer. Even so, his love for the game makes him want to keep playing.  “You get to know people and learn something about the game … If there is another tournament, I might play again, just to play [soccer],” said Duron.

      With Orndorff retiring, Bernard-Sanchez, Orndorff and many players hope that another teacher will take over the program.. “[Mr. Orndorff] is a great guy … always trying to get me involved. I don’t know who is going to be the leader next year. So it’s going to be different, but I still have interest in doing it,” said Kondjang.

      In this year’s intramural soccer tournament, Kondjang’s team, ‘Thierry,’ composed entirely of ESOL students, came out on top with a record of 4-1.