Practicing to play with the best
Brockton High soccer captain Timas ready
to help repeat tourney magic
Brockton High
midfielder
Admilson Timas,
who moved to the city from Cape
Verde as a young teen, and his
teammates are taking aim at another
run deep into the state soccer
tournament this fall.
Timas had played on a couple of club
teams growing up in the island
republic, which sits off the western
coast of Africa, but he didn’t know
how those skills would translate to
American high school soccer.
“I was
nervous because it seemed like there
were a lot of good players,’’ Timas
recalled about the tryout.
Any
fears were eased when coaches
announced freshmen wouldn’t be cut.
Four years later, Timas is a team
captain and part of Brockton’s quest
to return to the state tournament.
Brockton graduated nine players from
last fall’s team, which captured the
program’s first Division 1 South
sectional title and reached the
state semifinals.
Several
starting players were among those
graduates, and Brockton will be
challenged to again find the magic
that carried the team through its
most successful season.
“It was
like the best thing that ever
happened because Brockton High never
did that before,’’ said Timas, a
midfielder. “I felt like I
accomplished something for the first
time in my life. I wanted to go
far.’’
Timas
grew up watching his father play
soccer, and in his early teenage
years left Cape Verde to join his
dad in Brockton. One of the first
friends Timas made in his new home
was Moises Alves, a fellow native of
Cape Verde who also played soccer.
When it came time to try out for the
high school’s team, the two friends
took on the venture together.
Just
making the team wouldn’t be enough.
Coach Rick Robens constantly
reminded players about mandatory
practices. It didn’t take long for
Timas to find out just how serious
Robens was about practices.
Not long after Timas was promoted to
the varsity in his freshman year, he
was late for a practice. He was
quickly shipped back to the junior
varsity and took the lesson to
heart.
“I was
mad at myself because I knew I
wasn’t right and I wanted to play’’
with the varsity, Timas said.
Tardiness wasn’t tolerated, but
Robens could tell that Timas was
serious about soccer.
In his
10 years as Brockton’s coach, Robens
said, he has lost players because
they could not keep up with the
practice schedule, but Timas proved
he was dedicated by doing whatever
he needed to make practice.
After a
day of school and a rigorous
practice, Timas would head home, a
15-minute walk. The walk was close
enough to manage but far enough away
that he often wished he had a car.
The walks were made slightly more
entertaining because Alves tagged
along. For the last three years,
they walked home together, using the
time to gab.
“We
talked about a lot of stuff, games,
girls, a lot of stuff,’’ Alves said.
Timas said walking home is a minor
inconvenience if it means he can
play soccer. “It’s the one
thing I ever wanted to do and I
don’t want to stop,’’ Timas said.
“It’s my dream to play
professionally. I want to practice
the hardest.’’
That
attitude helped Timas be chosen a
team captain this season. He is
taking his leadership role seriously
as the Boxers try to build on the
success of last fall, when Brockton
ended the regular season at 8-2-8
and went on to make a statement in
the tournament.
The
team’s success pleased Robens, who
saw his 2007 squad finish with a
13-3-2 record but fall in the South
sectional, 1-0, to Weymouth High.
The team lost two all-stars to
graduation after that season, but
Brockton still found itself back in
the hunt in the postseason again
last fall.
“The
kids had a lot of fight in them,’’
Robens said. “They overachieved in
the sense that they just played hard
and beat a lot of good teams.’’
Last
fall’s team found others to fill in
for the spots that were vacated, and
the positive results soon followed.
In the
postseason, Brockton won two matches
via penalty kicks, including the
South sectional victory over Needham
High, 3-2. But Framingham ended
Brockton’s run in the state
semifinal, 1-0.
Although the Boxers again lost a
number of key players, many of this
year’s players were around for the
run that extended deep into the
playoffs.
“They
have some experience but it could be
a difference maker to see if they
can fill the roles,’’ Robens said.
thebostonglobe
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