Whitfield soccer coach Bill Daues can appreciate the irony.
In the midst of one of his more challenging seasons, Daues will receive the Jimmy Dunn Memorial High School Coach of the Year award Thursday when the St. Louis Soccer Hall of Fame holds its annual induction dinner at the Millennium Hotel downtown.
"I've been told it's a career award,'' joked Daues, whose young Warriors are 3-13. "At a small school, you're going to have seasons like this, and you just have to battle through. Most years, these guys would be with our JV team, but instead, they've been forced into a tough spot. In the long run, I think it'll make them better players, but at times it's a been a struggle.''
In his 22nd season at Whitfield, Daues has enjoyed more than his share of success. He guided the Warriors to a runner-up state finish in Class 1A-3A in 1999 and has helped them dominate Class 1 since Missouri went to a three-class format in 2002. Over the last nine seasons, Whitfield has won seven titles, including the last two, and was the runner-up in 2005.
"It's an honor to be recognized by the Hall of Fame committee, and I'm really looking forward to the dinner,'' Daues said.
Also being honored as Future Stars are Maddie Friedmann (Ursuline), Kailey Utley (Pattonville), Louie Berra (DeSmet) and Jacob Wieser (St. Mary's).
This year's Hall of Fame induction class includes Hank Darabcsek, Eric Delabar, Ed Gettemeier, Tim Putnam, John Sanders, John Schneider, Mark Scott, Marty Todt, Paul Turin and Perry Van Der Beck. Slobo Ilijevski and Nick Tomljenovic will be inducted posthumously.
The Bob Burnes Benchwarmer Award will go to Shirley McBroom and Kevin Byrne of the Special Needs Soccer Association. The Msgr. Jimmy Johnson Award will be presented to Bob Kehoe.
Dave Lange, author of Soccer Made in St. Louis, will be on hand to sell and sign his book.
Tickets are $40 and are available by calling Jim Leeker (314-954-7513).
PARKWAYS LOOK BACK 25 YEARS
When Parkway West hosts Parkway Central at 6:30 p.m. Saturday in a Suburban South Conference match, the schools will be celebrating the 25th anniversary of their first meeting in the 1986 Class 4A title match.
West won 2-1 in the first soccer championship featuring two public schools.
West coach Mike Skordos as been tracking down participants from both schools to take part in the ceremony.
The other Class 4A semifinalists that year were public schools Hazelwood Central and Park Hill.
ILLINOIS PLAYOFFS
The soccer postseason in Illinois is under way, with Class 1A regional championship matches slated for this weekend.
The Class 1A tournament will wrap up Oct. 28-29 in Normal, while Class 2A and Class 3A play will wrap up Nov. 4-5 at Lincoln-Way North High in Frankfort.
A quick look at regional seeds for area squads:
Class 1A
• Metro East Lutheran Regional: 1. Alton Marquette, 2. Metro East Lutheran, 3. Greenville, 4. Roxana, 5. Wood River. Championship: 7 p.m. Friday at Metro East Lutheran.
• Columbia Regional: 1. Columbia, 2. Gibault, 3. Anna-Jonesboro, 4. Freeburg, 5. Valmeyer. Championship: 7 p.m. Friday at Oerter Park.
• Breese Central Regional: 1. Mater Dei, 2. Carlyle, 3. Breese Central, 4. Wesclin, 5. Lebanon. Championship: 11 a.m. Saturday at Breese Central.
• Carlinville Regional: 1. Carlinville, 2. Hillsboro, 3. Litchfield, 4. Staunton, 5. Gillespie. Championship: 6 p.m. Saturday at Carlinville.
Class 2A
• Mascoutah Regional: 1. Triad, 2. Civic Memorial, 3. Highland, 4. Mascoutah.
• Waterloo Regional: 1. Waterloo, 2. Jerseyville, 3. Althoff, 4. Cahokia.
Class 3A
• Edwardsville Regional: 1. Edwardsville, 2. Quincy, 3. Granite City, 4. Alton.
• O'Fallon Regional: 1. O'Fallon, 2. Collinsville, 3. Belleville West, 4. Belleville East.
ST. LOUIS SOCCER CLASSIC
Chaminade and Webster Groves were the only teams to come out of the St. Louis Soccer Classic last week with 3-0 records. DeSmet, Parkway Central, Fort Zumwalt West and Fort Zumwalt South finished the 10-team event at 2-1.
WORKING OVERTIME
Parkway Central, ranked ninth among area large schools, had to go through overtime and 15 penalty kicks before dispatching Pattonville 2-1 on Monday.
The loss capped a stretch of 12 games in 14 days for Pattonville.
NATIONAL/STATE RANKINGS
The ESPN RISE FAB 50 includes DeSmet (No. 28) and Priory (No. 38). Other notables include Rockhurst (No. 16) and Lee's Summit North (No. 40).
Rockhurst, the defending Class 3 champion in Missouri, is ranked 17th by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America. The NSCAA Region VII ranking features Rockhurst (No. 3), Lee's Summit North (No. 5), O'Fallon (No. 6), Rock Bridge (No. 9), DeSmet (No. 10) and Priory (No. 11).
The latest polls from the Missouri State High School Soccer Coaches Association:
• Class 3: 1. Rockhurst, 2. Rock Bridge, 3. DeSmet, 4. Lee's Summit North, 5. Vianney, 6. SLUH, Vianney, 7. Marquette, 8. Chaminade, 9. CBC, 10. Parkway Central; 11. Lee's Summit, 12. Lee's Summit West, 13. Nixa, 14. Francis Howell Central, 15. Jefferson City. Others receiving votes: Kickapoo, Oakville, Jackson, Eureka and Lafayette.
• Class 2: 1. Priory, 2. Trinity, 3. St. Dominic, 4. Clayton, 5. Smithville, 6. Cape Girardeau Notre Dame, 7. Duchesne, 8. Harrisonville, 9. Helias, 10. Moberly. Others receiving votes: Perryville, Farmington, Lutheran South.
• Class 1: 1. Springfield Catholic, 2. Southern Boone, 3. John Burroughs, 4. Bayless, 5. St. Pius X, 6. Kennedy, 7. Pembroke Hill, 8. Summit Christian Academy, 9. St. Pius X (KC), 10. Sacred Heart. Others receiving votes: St. Paul Lutheran, Whitfield, Barstow, Lutheran North.
