Knox Catholic v. CAK Round 4

[lcsoccer]

"Whatever happened to Igor?"

This is one great story. Igor and his family, as most of the Chattanooga folks already know, was a refugee from the violence in the Balkans. He had numerous moves in Europe, to Florida and ultimately to Ooltewah during his early teens. After working his butt off to combine his junior and senior years at Central so he could graduate "on time" with English being his third or fourth language, he enrolled at King with Mitch, Michael and Evan, his teammates from the Impact. He redshirted his freshman year to get his academics in order and last fall became a starter for the Tornado as a redshirt freshman. He was named All-Conference in his first season. In addition, he and his entire family became US citizens at a ceremony I was priviledged to attend in Knoxville US District Court on March 10th of this year. If you've never been to a citizenship ceremony, go. It was one of the most moving events I have ever seen and a great reminder of how special this country really is. Finally, on a sadder note, Igor became lcsoccer's roommate after Evan left King for Maryville. It is hard to imagine the patience he must exhibit to get through that trauma, but all lives cannot have totally smooth sailing.

 

lc, you know I'm only kidding!

 

You try living with the guy hoya! He's doing well though. I talked to him the other day and he's playing with the USL team, the West Virginia Chaos. I also know he's headed back to the motherland this summer and will hopefully see Croatia get tanked by Dinho and co.

 

In regards to this game: I wish I was going, but I'm sure I will hear all about it. Good luck to both teams.

[sportdude]

I knew Igor from his club days in Chattanooga. He learned English in an astonishingly short time and his teamates really took to him as he was so unpretentious and had a great sense of humor. His dad had an equally hard time learning english and I spent many a practice and game trying carry on any meaningful conversations with him. He was also very likable however.

{On the otherhand, Dad could be a little irritable on the multiple occasions he had to drive from Ooltewah to practice after Igor had accidently locked his own keys in the car.} Thanks for the update. I'll pass it along to former mates Trevor and Allen. Allen plays at Emory&Henry.

[govols14]

CAK 2-1