Star player turned assistant coach Luke Pelant “brought a quiet calm to the back line” during his days on the soccer pitch. (Photos by JohnsPhotos.net)
William Nelson was a four-time First-Team All-Conference player.
Kyle Nelson has seen some stuff on the soccer pitch.
He began his run at Coupeville High School as an assistant coach, helping guide several teams to the state tourney.
Then, after Paul Mendes retired, Nelson stepped up to take over the Wolf boys program, before also adding the CHS girls coaching gig last season.
Calm, cool, composed, understated, and a natty dresser to boot, he likes to let his player’s actions speak largely for themselves.
But today, as we publish Part 4 in our five-part series on Coupeville coaches discussing the best players they’ve worked with, Nelson lets loose like never before.
So, let me get out of the way and give the man the mic.
Best female athlete – With only a year as the girl’s soccer coach this is a little harder, but the best athlete would be Lindsey Roberts. She brings speed and agility like no other to the field.
Looking a little further and including those soccer skills, Kalia Littlejohn brings a ton of ball skills and field smarts to the team.
Best male athlete – For pure athleticism, a couple stand out.
Nathan Lamb had that quick burst and lateral movement none could keep up with, and William Nelson (and yes, maybe a little father bias) brought agility and silky smoothness bigger guys don’t usually posses.
Will also brought ball skill and soccer talent that few others in our program have had.
Which brings me to some of those other talented players — all of the Leyva boys.
Abraham Leyva, Aram Leyva and Derek Leyva have brought huge amounts of soccer skill to our field; each, in their own unique way, have been hugely instrumental to our program’s success.
CHS athlete I wish I coached – For the girls that is easy – Makana Stone.
She played for a couple of years, but then focused on her other sports.
She brought speed and athleticism to the field. Having that kind of talent to work with would be very fun.
Though I know he would have never played soccer, having the multi-talented Hunter Smith on the soccer field would have been fun to see what could have happened.
Underrated athletes – for the girls, Sage Renninger.
She really was the heart and soul of the team last year, bringing a leadership and talent that was vital to the team.
For the boys, Luke Pelant.
Was one of the best defenders here at Coupeville; he brought a quiet calm to the back line that made that group responsible for the best defensive team we have had.
Best role model – William Nelson has brought the whole package to the soccer field.
Talented player that became that way through years of hard work, through his playing off-season on various select teams, just going to the field to play, or going to the gym to workout.
One of the few players selected two years team captain; really developed into the team leader both at practice and on the field at game time.
At practice he was always one of the hardest workers, always pushing himself and leading by example. He also always kept his cool on the field, helping calm players down when needed.
Really represented CHS with great sportsmanship and class.
And lastly, but most importantly he excelled as a student athlete, balancing sport and academics very successfully.
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