Our August Athletes of the Month started off our 2022-2023 fall sports season with the determination and commitment that creates success. Exemplifying the PRA Way (Prepared, Respectful, and Accountable), they are leading their teams in a variety of ways. Read more about each one of our Athletes of the Month in this set of features. 

Team captain Cole McLemore led the boys soccer team to a solid start both through his play and through his leadership. Head Coach Todd Schoeder noted McLemore’s goals against average of 1.00 and 86 percent save percentage as helping to keep the Miners competitive in their first three games. 

McLemore said he was proud of how the team came together in their first game against Timnath. The win required a hard-fought battle that McLemore said was a good experience for the team. During this transition year for the team, he said making the state tournament would be an amazing accomplishment, but that he doesn’t want the team to focus only on that as a goal for the year. 

“It shouldn’t be the end-all be-all of our season,” he said. “I think that, because of our small senior class and the fact that this is going to be the majority of the team for next year, we should focus on getting the fundamentals down and begin learning the tactics that we plan to implement next season to make a deep run into state.”

McLemore said this being a transition doesn’t mean this season is a write-off. But he wants to ensure that the team is focusing on “getting 1 percent better every time we step out on the field.”

Being part of the soccer team has helped McLemore create community during his time at PRA. He said he is glad he’s gotten to be a part of the team for the last two years and is excited to see how the team will grow throughout this season and the next one. 

“Being a student athlete has helped me to feel that I’m a part of something bigger and has given me numerous life skills that I can take with me to college and beyond,” McLemore said. “I’ve learned numerous lessons from being a student athlete and from playing soccer but I feel that there is no lesson more important than hard work and never giving up. It’s important in soccer and in life, and to learn such a valuable lesson as early as I did has helped me in my life and it’s a value and a characteristic that I will take with me for the rest of my life.”

Coach Schoeder said that lesson is being extended to the whole team through McLemore’s leadership.

“Beyond his play on the field, Cole has been a mentor to our younger players and is an asset to the entire coaching staff. He is constantly looking for ways to not only improve his own skills but those of the team as well.”

Coach Todd Schoeder