WHITMAN, MASS. (WHDH) - Soccer star Samantha Mewis will be playing in France tomorrow with the rest of the U.S. Women’s National Soccer team, but she’ll be bringing her Massachusetts roots as she tries to help the squad win the World Cup.
Mewis, a midfielder, was born in Weymouth and got her start on the soccer field in the Bay State. David Floeck, who coached Mewis in Whitman, has followed her career since she was in single digits.
“I met Sam I think she was 5 years old, her first year coming to camp,” Floeck recalled. “I’m tying everybody’s shoes and there was this little blonde girl juggling the ball and the ball never hit the ground.”
“Even at a very early age you knew Sam had some special talents,” Floeck said.
Floeck said he’s still in touch with Mewis, who has fond memories of playing soccer in the Bay State.
“When she comes back she says ‘I remember sitting in the same stairwell and doing the same pregame rituals that you guys are doing now and those are some of my best memories,'” Floeck said.
When Mewis and the rest of the women’s team take on the Netherlands tomorrow, she’ll be an inspiration to other young local soccer players, Floeck said.
“I think it’s incredible for the young players here in our area on the South Shore to say ‘Maybe you some day,'” he said.
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