Kemp Proud to Keep Troy Athens Tradition
August 29, 2019
By Keith Dunlap
Special for Second Half
TROY – Jason Kemp has never needed the tradition of Troy Athens soccer explained to him, because he’s been able to experience the sights and sounds of the program his entire life.
Living less than a mile from the school, Kemp, now a senior goalkeeper for the RedHawks, has heard the cheers and seen the lights of the stadium from his house numerous times growing up.
“I’ve grown up watching playoff games and watching league games,” Kemp said. “I can hear the crowd and the goals from my house. My whole childhood has been Athens soccer. Now I’m a captain on the team and get to play in front of large crowds that support us. It’s kind of a dream come true for me.”
Kemp won’t be hearing cheers this year from his house, mainly because he’ll be on the field as a big reason why Athens is producing the positive crowd noise.
Kemp certainly generated a lot of cheers last year for the Athens faithful.
After splitting time as the starting keeper as a sophomore, Kemp was dominant in his first full year as the starter last fall, recording 16 shutouts and allowing just four goals in being named first team all-state by the coaches association.
Kemp is back for his senior season to anchor the net for an Athens team with understandably high expectations.
The RedHawks started the season ranked No. 15 nationally by Top Drawer Soccer and feature a senior-laden roster that has grown up playing travel ball together in the community, which Kemp said gives the team an even bigger advantage to go along with its talent.
“I’ve been playing with most of these guys my whole life,” Kemp said. “I always have thought that was cool growing up playing travel with these guys and now adding high school to it. I feel like it gives us an advantage. A lot of teams, they only have trained a couple of times in the summer before they even start with their high school teams. For us at Athens, a lot of us have been playing together since early middle school years or even elementary school years. It adds a cool twist to our team because we’ve been playing together so long.”
Big reasons for the 16 shutouts Kemp recorded last year were Athens’ stout defenders and organized system, but make no mistake about it: Kemp was also a vital component.
“He’s able to catch balls instead of punch them or tip them,” Athens head coach Todd Heugh said. “He’s got shot-stopping ability and quite honestly, he’s got the confidence of all his teammates. They think he’s good and in turn, I think that helps the way we defend and I think the way he goalkeeps a little bit too.”
Despite putting up terrific numbers as a junior, there is one area Kemp said he has worked on improving going into his senior year.
“Last year, I was very timid on set pieces, especially corner kicks,” said Kemp, who sports a 4.0 grade-point average and took five Advanced Placement classes during his junior year. “A lot of teams would curl a ball in the box, and I would rely on my defenders to clear that away. Now that I’m a little bigger, a little stronger and worked out a lot over the summer, those set pieces don’t really bother me anymore. I don’t have a problem coming out and jumping with a forward and getting hit around a little bit. I’ve grown out of that struggle.”
Athens won Class A titles in 1983, 1984 and 1989, and claimed Division 1 in 1997. Heugh was a senior on the 1989 team.
But a fifth championship has proven elusive. Athens also finished runner-up in 1986 and 2016, when it lost the Final in a shootout to East Kentwood
And the RedHawks still feel a stinging loss from last year’s tournament – they entered unbeaten and ranked No. 1, but were upset in the District Final by Utica Ford, 1-0.
While October is still a few weeks away, Kemp said there’s “a lot of fire in our bellies” among the seniors to try and bring Athens its first title in 30 years.
“This is it,” he said. “This is our last season and a lot of us have been dreaming of this moment for our whole lives. We really want to make this year count as well as we can in the postseason.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Troy Athens keeper Jason Kemp provides skillful play and leadership from the net. (Middle) Kemp dives to thwart an opponent’s shot. (Photos courtesy of the Troy Athens boys soccer program.)
Hickey Joins Notable Coaching Crew as Adams Completes 2024 Soccer Sweep
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
November 14, 2024
When New Year’s Eve comes this year and the ball drops to welcome in 2025, Rochester Adams boys and girls soccer coach Josh Hickey might be hesitant to celebrate this year coming to an end.
It’s not that he won’t be excited for the new year. It’s just that it might be impossible to top 2024 from a coaching perspective.
In June, Hickey made history when he helped guide the Adams girls to the Division 1 championship with a 2-0 win over Hartland.
He joined the list of soccer coaches in state history who have led both boys and girls programs to Finals championships, a group that includes Barry Brodsky of Bloomfield Hills Marian/Brother Rice, Randy Heethuis of Hudsonville Unity Christian, Brian Guggemos of Okemos, Ken Johnson of Salem, Brian O’Leary of Novi, Tim Storch of Troy Athens and Clark Udell of Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central.
“That’s good company to keep, that’s for sure,” Hickey said in praising those other coaches who have pulled off the feat.
Earlier this month, the Adams boys followed in the footsteps of their classmates from this spring, defeating Byron Center in the Division 1 Final, 2-0, to win the program’s second Division 1 title over the last three years. Adams downed Rockford in the 2022 Final, also by a 2-0 score.
Adams also won girls and boys Division 1 soccer titles during the same calendar year in 1999, but with those teams led by separate coaches.
Hickey said while each team had talent and players all came from great soccer backgrounds and families, the two championship runs were quite different.
“With the girls, I would imagine nobody picked us necessarily to go that far, especially at the beginning of the season,” he said. “Throughout the year, the girls were just super resilient. The expectation wasn’t there.”
It was a far different element once the fall started and the boys took the field, given there was a solid core of returnees and also five MLS Next academy players who decided to experience high school soccer for their senior year, including eventual Mr. Soccer Award winner Alex Rosin.
“With the boys, we had to battle through all those expectations,” Hickey said. “There is something with your mental toughness to see if the kids can even handle that pressure. They handled it better than I thought they would. It was never a concern or issue.
“The girls came in and just wanted a good year and then ended up having the most success they could ever imagine. The boys came in telling me they wanted to win the whole thing from day one.”
On Oct. 30 – when the Adams boys team defeated Saline in their Semifinal (2-1 in penalty kicks) – it just so happened to be the same day the girls team got its championship rings.
“Some of the girls came and showed us during lunch and throughout the day,” Rosin said. “It just gave us extra motivation. We had to win two more, and we successfully did. At the time, we wanted it so bad and we saw them wear the rings at school. It made us want it even more.”
For the record, Rosin said playing high school soccer — even if it was just for one year — was an experience he’ll never forget.
“Hickey played me at every position,” Rosin said. “It was a good experience to learn the game in a different way. Just kind of push myself and test myself every day. Different positions and trying to become the best player I can be.
“One thing I’ll take away is the memories and new bonds I made with my teammates. It was something incredible.”
Despite the boys season being over, Hickey said the transition to girls season will wait a bit. There is still the matter of the postseason banquet to attend to, as well as championship celebrations such as meeting the mayor of Rochester Hills and marching in the downtown Rochester Christmas parade.
But once the celebrations slow down and the holidays come to end, all attention will turn to the girls season and the run for a repeat next spring.
The Adams girls program has never won consecutive Finals titles, but should be well-equipped to give it a go.
“A lot of players come back from the starting group,” Hickey said. “We also had girls waiting in the wings waiting to play. We’re excited for it.”
While it will be difficult for Hickey and Adams soccer to say farewell to 2024, there clearly is a lot to look forward to for 2025 as well.
Keith Dunlap has served in Detroit-area sports media for more than two decades, including as a sportswriter at the Oakland Press from 2001-16 primarily covering high school sports but also college and professional teams. His bylines also have appeared in USA Today, the Washington Post, the Detroit Free Press, the Houston Chronicle and the Boston Globe. He served as the administrator for the Oakland Activities Association’s website from 2017-2020. Contact him at [email protected] with story ideas for Oakland, Macomb and Wayne counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Rochester Adams soccer coach Josh Hickey shows the Division 1 championship trophy after his boys team defeated Byron Center on Nov. 2 at Grand Ledge High School. (Middle) Hickey, far left, takes his spot in the team photo after Adams’ girls won the Division 1 title in June at Michigan State’s DeMartin Stadium.