PUBLISHER’S DESK: FA + JVC = RIVALRY FOR THE AGES

I don’t know about anybody else who played soccer for Freeman Academy in the 1980s or 1990s, but when I hear the name “Dordt College” — or Dordt University, as it is known today — I immediately think of soccer.

And that makes me immediately think of James Valley Christian.

I don’t have a lot of “war stories” when it comes to my average-at-best high school athletic career, but the annual soccer pilgrimage to Sioux Center, Iowa to take part on the Dordt College Invitational Tournament is front of mind.

It came during a time when soccer was merely a club sport played by only a handful of schools, with Freeman Academy among the first to have an actively established program that began in 1978. This was long before the sport was sanctioned by the South Dakota High School Activities Association — that didn’t happen until the 2010-11 school year — and without an official governing body, the tournament in Dordt was considered by most to be soccer’s “state championship.”

It was an overnight, two-day affair, with teams bunking on the campus of the small university. Freeman Academy’s quarters were always in the large lobby area in the school’s rec center adjacent to the doors that led into the large gymnasium, where we would often pick up a game of basketball.

And, wouldn’t you know it, the Vikings shared a spot in the same building.

James Valley had an established soccer program, too, and was by far our biggest rival. I don’t know if it was because of how far back the two teams went or if it was because both the Bobcats and the Vikings were born out of Christian high schools, but during my six years at Freeman Academy, from the fall of 1988 to the spring of 1994, we didn’t much care for each.

Things were always rough on the field, and even off the field, there was tension. I distinctly remember one confrontation in the lobby of the rec center at Dordt that involved a few of our older players and a few of theirs, with one reasonable senior from our team stepping in to basically say, “knock it off.”

I have no idea if things lingered after I graduated in 1994, but I do know that Freeman Academy went on to enjoy a few very good soccer seasons thereafter that culminated with the Bobcats winning “Dordt” — as it was simply called — in October of 1996.

Almost 30 years later, both Freeman Academy and James Valley Christian are a big part of high school soccer in South Dakota and easily the sport’s longest-standing rivals. And, wouldn’t you know it, the two teams will play each other on Saturday with a trip to the SDHSAA state championship on the line.

I hope the game is friendlier than it was when I played.

And I hope Freeman Academy kicks some serious Vikings butt.

JEREMY WALTNER is husband to Stacey and Dad to Ella & Oliver. He played center defender and had one opportunity to score in his career — but missed the penalty kick.