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Good Sport Award

In Memory of Michael Goepp

The Goepp family has been a tremendous support to Soccer FC since the beginning of our work here in Charlotte. We are grateful to continue honoring Mike through this special award, which celebrates the positive impact he and students like him have made in our community.

 

To honor our dear friend, Greater Goals coaches will select one student from each school to receive the “Michael Goepp Good Sport Award.” This award recognizes a student who demonstrates strong sportsmanship, respect for others, a positive attitude, and encouragement of their teammates.

Who was Michael Goepp

Mike was always focused on his team and helping others to be as good as they could be. He was known for his caring and sympathetic conversations off the field. Mike was an intense competitor who never lost sight of his teammates, respect for his coaches, and willingness to step up when others were timid or lacked confidence. He was fiercely protective of his goalie, would offer anyone a hand up, and was first in line to congratulate the other team on a game well played. For Mike, it wasn’t how well he played the game, it more important how his actions helped others play the game to the best of their ability.

Mike’s coach at JWU

“When parents, family, and friends attend matches they very rarely see and/or hear what happens on the player/coach’s side of the field. During Mike’s first year at JWU, we were in the 1st round of the conference playoffs, away at St. Joe’s in Maine. It was deep into the 2nd half and the score was tied 0-0. Mike was playing at right back, directly in front of me. I was standing in the technical area, fairly close to the St. Joe’s coach who was standing in his area. The ball had gone out of bounds for a throw-in for JWU. The game was reaching a critical stage, saying it was a bit tense was an understatement. Based on what was happening at the moment I wanted the ball back in play as quickly as possible. I picked up the ball that had gone out of bounds to hand to Mike, not realizing that he was casually jogging over to get it from me. I said, “Goepp what the heck are you doing? Let’s go – quickly!” Mike never sped up. He replied, “I’m getting there, coach.” I rolled my eyes and sarcastically said, “Take your time.” Mike finally got to the sideline and said, very casually, “Coach you look tense, maybe you should sit down. What me to get you something to drink?” The opposing coach and I burst out laughing, taking the tension away from both of us. Mike’s coach also said, “I didn’t want the best players, I wanted the right players.” Mike was one of those “right players”.

A friend once said

Off the field, Mike was the one to look out for the person sitting alone, someone who felt left out, and kids who did not fit in. He would enter a room knowing a few people but would leave knowing everyone. To Mike, strangers were friends he had not met yet.