To the editor:

In the past five years, a well-kept secret has been the success of Lawrence girls in college soccer. Although community high school teams have struggled to reach respectability in the highly competitive Sunflower League, local graduates have played at colleges such as Pennsylvania, Southeast Louisiana State, Missouri-Rolla, Winona State (Minnesota), Ft. Lewis College (Colorado), Washburn, Emporia State, Baker, Grinnell and others.

Most of these players never received notoriety in the soccer community. Their skills were unknown to even local college coaches.

Coach Jason Pendleton of Free State has tried to remedy this problem by initiating a weeklong summer camp at Free State. Coaches from Emporia State, Baker, Washburn, Kansas University and Missouri Southern each are providing a day’s training. Not only will the 39 participants from as far away as Wichita and Manhattan be improved by college coaching instruction, they will now know college coaches who are either the instructors or in attendance observing.

Coach Pendleton should be commended for his effort to not only improve the future of Free State players, but those from Lawrence High and outside the community.

Shelley Bock,

Lawrence