Southside Heat Package Presentation

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SOUTHSIDE HEAT TEEN SOCCER PLAYERS

TEAM BIO-History

 

The urban community and soccer go hand in hand like Beauty and the Beast. Traditionally, it’s just not the most common union, nor the most glorified. However, on the heels of the US Women’s championship run at this year’s World Cup, the tide has begun to change. Moreover, if the Southside Heat of Atlanta and its current crop of athletes have anything to do with it, the future of “futbol” will croon a different tune soon enough.

 

The Heat – a collective of spectacular African American female athletes who’s been together since grade school – is currently a Top 50 ranked team by way of Soccer in College, and beating the odds with every successful season. In 2014, the squad acquired a new head coach, Reggie Askew, who made his mark as a standout high school player in Philadelphia, before moving on to test his skills at Auburn and Tuskegee University. These days, Coach Askew’s competitive fire is being wrought by a group of girls that ironically possesses the same fervor for the game as him.

 

Presently under the umbrella of the Tiger Soccer Club, the Heat was brought together by and large due to their undying love for the game. From the impressionable ages of 6-7 years old, to a group of teenagers summoning womanhood, their unbreakable bond remains a central part of their DNA. And as they fearlessly leap into their formative years, an unwavering commitment to the game persists.

 

Coming off an undefeated fall season in 2014, which catapulted them into D Level competition and U14 play, the Heat has done so with a confident smile on every grill, of every team member. While competitive clubs they routinely play against, and defeat, are oft times financially driven, the Heat’s focus is motivated by true passion. That, along with a longing desire to improve each and every time their cleats settle into the soil to engage another squad.

 

“Even though we don’t have the resources as far as access to nighttime fields and whatnot, I think our program is solid,” says Coach Askew. “[This can be] evidenced by the fact that we’re pulling from the selection of fourteen kids, versus our competition, which has 300-400, maybe even 1,000 kids to pull from to build a team. By that I’m pretty proud of what we’re doing.”

 

2015, The Heat consisted of only four fourteen year olds, with the majority of them ages 12-13 and a pool of sixteen kids to pull from. Inasmuch, as the only team of teenage African American girls in the city of Atlanta, their success is simply exceptional and well deserved. 

 

“When you put the ball in the grass we’re going to compete,” says Coach Askew, “and they’re going to get beat if they sleep on us.”

In addition to their unique ability to play the game, the Southside Heat know practice makes perfect. As such, the team accepted the challenge of honing its skills year round, long ago. While its counterparts were likely napping in the dog days of summer, the Heat tuned up with Coach

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Placing the girls in unfamiliar environments, where they can absorb new facets of the game, is an ongoing strategy. And while Coach Askew is in favor of limiting the team’s summer month activities for much needed rest, the Heat prefer to lead an active lifestyle. Because in this sport, stars aren’t developed or discovered in the off season. They are groomed year round.

 

“Soccer is a skill that’s developed as a youth, then you learn all the nuances and tactics of the game,” says Coach. “You can be a terrific athlete and be competitive at soccer, but you would have to be super dedicated to training.”

 

From fast to faster, chubby to fit and shy to gregarious, the Southside Heat has undoubtedly matured physically and mentally since forming in 2010. Additionally, their growth off the field has worked to instill a togetherness that extends beyond them to their parents, which is nothing short of an indestructible family unit. Unsurprisingly, their spirit of togetherness and consideration for each other, has inspired an entire community.

 

“The real story is what those girls have been able to do with themselves,” Coach Askew says, marveling at how their cohesiveness off the field translates to their performance on the field. “The way they represent themselves. They’re strong and competitive, have high self-esteem. To me they’re just a terrific group of young ladies and something we should all be proud of. It’s fascinating.”

 

Southside Heat Coaching Staff

 

Reggie Askew

When he isn’t constructing commercial buildings or restructuring apartment complexes, Reggie Askew is the year round Head Coach of the Southside Heat U14 Girls Soccer team. An accomplished soccer player himself, Askew excelled in high school, before going on to play for Auburn University (Montgomery, AL) and Tuskegee University. During the off-season in his stomping grounds of Philadelphia, PA, Askew bounced around the club circuit, as he was recruited heavily by local business owners vying for the most outstanding team(s) in the city.

 

“A lot of those guys were very passionate about it,” he remembers. “They would build the best teams, full of high school players and college players, especially in the summer and local kids in the fall. It was extremely competitive. There were bars were stealing players from each other. So it was pretty serious. That’s probably the closest I came to being a professional soccer player.”

 

These days Askew continues to carry out his love for the game with the Southside Heat, who he successfully coached to an undefeated season in his first as head coach. He’d previously served as an assistant since 2008.

 

Coach David

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“I’m the glue that keeps everything together so that he isn’t overwhelmed with the technical side of things,” he says.

 

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PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

 

AFRICAN AMERICAN TEENAGE GIRLS OPT FOR SOCCER

 

Southside Heat establish itself as an asset to the city of Atlanta

Team Among Leaders In Athena U15 Competitive Soccer

 

Atlanta, GA – August, 2015: Georgia’s state capitol was dubbed “Hotlanta” for its sizzling climate and all the whimsical attractions it has to offer. Among the latter, a multimillion dollar deal announced by Falcons Owner and Chairman, Arthur Blank, will welcome the Atlanta United FC professional soccer team and a state of the art complex to match. A telltale sign that a sport once ignored by the African American populace, is now in the know. But don’t tell the Southside Heat, the only competitive female African American teenage soccer team in the city, and yet another ‘sizzling’ asset to acknowledge.

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