Male Athlete of the Week
At 6-foot-4, Travis Edward is hard to miss roaming the defensive backfield for the Mariner High soccer team the past four years. One even may have suggested, a time or two, that Edward should play basketball for the Tritons.
The problem with that is the scheduling conflict with soccer and basketball both being winter sports, essentially sharing the same dates on the calendar.
That changed this season. After talking to Tritons soccer coach Martin Cardenas and basketball coach James Harris, Edward has been able to fulfill his desire to play both.
On nights when there is a soccer match, Edward, a team captain, shows up for his usual role in the lineup. He plays basketball when there is no soccer match, but often has had to participate in two practices on the same night.
“Sometimes I’ll go from soccer practice (after school) to basketball which lasts until like 5 to 7 p.m.,” Edward said. “I always wanted to play basketball and the coach talked to me in the spring and said we could work things out.”
The Daily Breeze Male Athlete of the Week hasn’t let the two-sport combination slow him down on the soccer field. His strong defensive play helped the Tritons (3-3-1) last week as they placed second in a Thanksgiving Tournament at Sarasota.
The Tritons opened the tournament with a 1-0 victory over Sarasota and added a 2-0 win over Bradenton Manatee. In their third game in three days, they allowed only one goal with two minutes left in a 1-0 loss to Tampa Jesuit in the championship game.
Cardenas said the team consistently was strong up the middle and defensively with Edward playing an instrumental role.
Edward was a key defensive player last season, too, when the Tritons won the District 5A-15 title. Early this season, the plan was for Edward to move to midfield to help spark the offense, but since has returned to defense.
“It just worked out better when I played on defense,” Edward said. “The first few games we were kind of struggling a little bit.”
Honorable mentions:
John Skinner, senior, Ida Baker basketball: Skinner scored 20 points in a season-opening win over Cypress Lake, then had double-doubles in a win over ECS (16 pts., 13 reb.) and a loss to Gulfport Boca Ciega (31 pts., 10 reb.).
Joel Hill, junior, Cape Coral basketball – Hill led the Seahawks with 26 points in a season-opening win over Lemon Bay.