Trinity College inks home-schooled soccer player
By MIKE HAMSON
Special Correspondent
TBO.com
Published: February 17, 2016
BRANDON — Logan Beach, 17, of Mulberry, loved the game of soccer starting at the age of 4. Thanks to the Tampa Bay Heat, home-school students, including Beach, compete with other athletes and pursue their dreams of playing collegiate soccer.
Beach, a senior, signed his letter of intent at Bell Shoals Baptist Church in Brandon on Feb. 3, which was National Signing Day. He will play soccer for Trinity College of Florida in New Port Richey, where he earned a scholarship.
Beach said he started playing soccer in early 2000s when there was only one home-school group in the area.
“We did not have the greatest team in the world, but we were competitive,” he said.
When he entered seventh grade as a home-schooler, Logan joined the Tampa Bay Heat, an acronym for Home-school Education and Activities Team. He said soccer was something that got him through the daily doldrums.
“It was my fall-back,” he said. “That was my thing. I used to put it on the calendar when my soccer games and practice was. I would look forward to certain days in the week based on the soccer games and practices.”
Beach played forward for the Heat soccer program and plans to continue at the same position for Trinity. Beach said he was inspired to play soccer after listening to his father, John, tell stories about playing in the snow on a traveling college soccer team.
“As a young child, I never really thought of playing in college,” Beach said. “That was not necessarily a huge goal of mine. The goal was to have fun and ultimately win a championship down the line.”
Beach said he learned to play soccer with other homeschool athletes of different skill levels. At times, it was awkward for him to compete against his friends from childhood.
“There were some kids who had never touched a ball in their life,” he said. “There were some kids who had played on club teams since they were 3. It was just all different ranges of skill levels. That was a completely different challenge. The hardest part of that entire team was going back and playing the team I used to play for and going against all of my friends who I knew. I knew their strengths and weaknesses. I had to go and score against them.”
Becky Beach, Logan’s mother, said the Tampa Bay Heat is made up of home-schooled children who attend local private and Christian schools. She said the group offers sports throughout the year, including programs not typically found in public schools, such as archery and fencing.
Becky Beach said home-schooling is popular with families that want to educate their children while traveling to games.
“Most home-schoolers now either play on leagues or are playing on travel teams,” she said. “Parents switch to home-school because they are traveling for games up to Sebring, Tallahassee. You could be over anywhere. A lot of the ones who have athletes who are serious, because they have the freedom to get school on the road.”
Beach said she is proud of her son who graduates in May. She said Logan plans to major in sports management.
Beach said home-school children no longer have to feel relegated to the backyard. They can compete with the best in the area.
“With the large home-schooling contingent in the Tampa Bay area, home-schoolers are able to compete and stay competitive in all sports,” she said.
Special Correspondent
TBO.com
Published: February 17, 2016
BRANDON — Logan Beach, 17, of Mulberry, loved the game of soccer starting at the age of 4. Thanks to the Tampa Bay Heat, home-school students, including Beach, compete with other athletes and pursue their dreams of playing collegiate soccer.
Beach, a senior, signed his letter of intent at Bell Shoals Baptist Church in Brandon on Feb. 3, which was National Signing Day. He will play soccer for Trinity College of Florida in New Port Richey, where he earned a scholarship.
Beach said he started playing soccer in early 2000s when there was only one home-school group in the area.
“We did not have the greatest team in the world, but we were competitive,” he said.
When he entered seventh grade as a home-schooler, Logan joined the Tampa Bay Heat, an acronym for Home-school Education and Activities Team. He said soccer was something that got him through the daily doldrums.
“It was my fall-back,” he said. “That was my thing. I used to put it on the calendar when my soccer games and practice was. I would look forward to certain days in the week based on the soccer games and practices.”
Beach played forward for the Heat soccer program and plans to continue at the same position for Trinity. Beach said he was inspired to play soccer after listening to his father, John, tell stories about playing in the snow on a traveling college soccer team.
“As a young child, I never really thought of playing in college,” Beach said. “That was not necessarily a huge goal of mine. The goal was to have fun and ultimately win a championship down the line.”
Beach said he learned to play soccer with other homeschool athletes of different skill levels. At times, it was awkward for him to compete against his friends from childhood.
“There were some kids who had never touched a ball in their life,” he said. “There were some kids who had played on club teams since they were 3. It was just all different ranges of skill levels. That was a completely different challenge. The hardest part of that entire team was going back and playing the team I used to play for and going against all of my friends who I knew. I knew their strengths and weaknesses. I had to go and score against them.”
Becky Beach, Logan’s mother, said the Tampa Bay Heat is made up of home-schooled children who attend local private and Christian schools. She said the group offers sports throughout the year, including programs not typically found in public schools, such as archery and fencing.
Becky Beach said home-schooling is popular with families that want to educate their children while traveling to games.
“Most home-schoolers now either play on leagues or are playing on travel teams,” she said. “Parents switch to home-school because they are traveling for games up to Sebring, Tallahassee. You could be over anywhere. A lot of the ones who have athletes who are serious, because they have the freedom to get school on the road.”
Beach said she is proud of her son who graduates in May. She said Logan plans to major in sports management.
Beach said home-school children no longer have to feel relegated to the backyard. They can compete with the best in the area.
“With the large home-schooling contingent in the Tampa Bay area, home-schoolers are able to compete and stay competitive in all sports,” she said.
Comments