Page 17 - Summer 2021

FROM UNDERDOGS TO WINNERS
PACS SOCCER TEAM MAKES AN ASTONISHING TURNAROUND
When Michael Palmer took over Prince Avenue Christian School’s middle school boys soccer team this spring, he was determined to raise the bar.
The Wolverines were coming off two seasons across which they won only two matches. Historically, the program has always ranked as one of the least successful throughout the school.
But 2021 proved to be a breakout season for the Wolverines.
The team finished its schedule with a 9-3-2 record, far surpassing its previous win totals. The turnaround season began once Palmer became Prince Avenue’s head coach. He considered turning down the job because he had just finished coaching
Prince Avenue’s high school cross-country teams into the state championships and leading the middle school girls basketball team through its 20-game schedule.
Palmer decided to take the soccer position because the 2020 season ended early due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I knew the history of the team and was thinking it was going to be a struggle,” Palmer said. “I have had all these kids in P.E. and know their season was cut short with COVID last year, so I didn’t want to see them not get a season.”
Though the soccer team had struggled before this year, a few veteran Wolverines say it was not due to a lack of effort or talent. After all, many of the players had years of experience thanks to
Story and photos by Justin Hubbard
Michael Palmer, head coach of the Prince Avenue Christian School middle school boys soccer team, had a positive effect on the Wolverines, according to, from left, Cooper Patton, Sim Tolbert and Jack Whalen.
sJustin Hubbard is the sports editor for The Oconee Enterprise newspaper in Watkinsville, Ga.
SUMMER 2021 | OcONEE ThE MAgAzINE | PAgE 15