Blake Miller's Secret To Soccer Success? His Dad
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- At 5-foot, 9-inches, 140 pounds, Blake Miller isn't the most imposing athletic specimen you'll come across on the soccer field.
"I'm usually one of the smaller guys on my team," he said. "But I try to play with a big heart every day."
While he might not thank his father for the genetics, his dad, David, did pass something along that's far more valuable.
"When he was six or seven years old, coming off the field one time, I just pulled him aside and said, never never never give up," David Miller said. "And he's kind of taken that, and he's got a magnet on our fridge at home, he's got it in his room."
It's a saying that Blake heard a lot, since David -- an assistant on the Centennial sideline -- has been Blake's coach since for pretty much his entire life.
"I watched him coach since I was 3, I've ball boy'd for the varsity team ever since, so this team means the whole world to me," Blake said.
In the sectional semifinals, he meant the world to his team. He was one of the smallest guys on the field but had the two biggest moments: both goals in an upset of a Blaine team that had been number one in the state just a week before.
"Oh yeah, I jumped off my feet when they went in and he got the goals, so yeah, I was pretty excited," Blake's dad said.
It's the pay-off from a father-son relationship bigger than bulk.
