With dad on his side
Valleysportsledger.com, Aug. 19, 2009
Young Dominick Moreira can always tell when he is going to have a good game. Every time he steps onto the golf course, he says a prayer. He asks God if his late father can come down and watch him play. He recalls a shot as he prepared for the 10th annual Pinehurst World Championship Tournament in North Carolina. He was finishing his last hole, and as he swung his putter, he heard a bird chirp. Dominick sank the 20-foot putt to finish a round of 68. “I can tell when I’m going to have a good shot,” says Dominick, a Mesa 11-year-old. “When I hear a bird chirp, I pray and ask my dad to be with me.” Dominick started playing golf when he was about 5-years-old. He and his brother Derrick, 15, asked their father Mario if he could teach them how to play. Mario was a long-time soccer coach but jumped at the opportunity to teach his sons the game. Unfortunately, a car accident in 2005 left Mario with failing kidneys. Eleven months later, Mario was in the ICU fighting for his life. As his health worsened, however, his sons’ games got better, especially Dominick’s. In 2006, with Mario in the hospital, Dominick won his first U.S. Kids Player of the Year Cup. Two weeks later, Mario passed away. Since then, Dominick has won the cup six years in a row. “Everybody calls him Dominick the Dominator because of his drive,” says Dominick’s mother Kimberlee Moreira. It was the Moreira’s unique story that caught the attention of Christopher Carme, Junior program manager for U.S. Kids Golf. Carme said in a release that he was touched by Dominick’s story. “His story was so tragic, inspirational, and humanistic that we had to make sure he got to Pinehurst to compete in the World Championship,” Carme said. U.S. Kids Golf gave Dominick a chance to compete in the tournament by paying all the expenses. And though Dominick did not win, he and his family were grateful for the chance to compete. “I felt I was pretty lucky to be able to go,” Dominick said. |
Big hits, little sound
Valleysportsledger.com, Sep. 2, 2009 It’s not like you’ll see him holding a white flag asking his coaches to take it easy on him. He doesn’t ask for shorter practices. He shows up and gets the job done. In fact, Coronado High School sophomore and starting defensive end Barron Shepard would easily get lost in the shuffle if interpreter Jan Sanderson weren’t signing directions from the sideline. “Show no fear,” Shepard said without any help from Sanderson. “If I do my part and work harder than anybody…I can make it to the top.” Sanderson, who is involved with the Arizona Interpreting Services, said Shepard has a hard time with the listening part of the game. But Sanderson said coach BJ Pasquel makes his players sign plays so that Shepard stays involved in the game. “If there’s a crack play, they’ll yell it out and he can’t hear it,” Sanderson said. “But Barron is very good at being visually aware.” The coaches say Shepard has the body, the strength and the drive to play football. Now all he needs is to improve his focus. “He motivates…he’s vocal, he is one of the hardest workers out there,” assistant coach Kyle Kennedy said. “If he keeps working on his technique, by the end of the season he’ll be one of our better players.” Defensive coordinator Jeff Carpenter added that as a freshman on the junior varsity, Barron could get by on strength and quickness alone. “He has a motor that won’t quit,” Carpenter said. “His physicality, his desire to play football…he is a leader and a good kid. He is learning his way.” This year, though, Shepard will need to learn the game more in order for him to improve. “He needs to learn how to read plays now,” Carpenter said. Shepard will be the starting defensive end this year. But he will more than likely play running back if he continues to show improvement and motivation. “I like the coaches because they continue to push hard,” Shepard said. |