CALEDONIA — Showcase events are norm for high school student-athletes looking to play at the next level.
Like many of the players who attend those events, Garrett Parish developed a relationship with Itawamba Community College men’s soccer coach Mike Sullivan after two or three years of attending showcases in Fulton.
In that time, Sullivan discovered Parish’s versatility and experience allows him to be equally effective at defense, in the midfield, or at forward.
After the most recent showcase event in the summer, Sullivan informed Parish that he likely would play defense if and when he decided to come to ICC to play for him.
Parish, a senior at Caledonia High School, took the final step to making that official Tuesday when he signed a National Letter of Intent to play soccer at ICC.
“I usually play defense on my club team, but I have been playing midfield in high school,” Parish said. “I have been wanting to do this ever since I have been in high school. I have been trying to work hard and find someone who would pick me up.”
Parish said he also received interest from a four-year school in North Carolina, but he wanted to stay close to home. He said it is an added bonus that he knows a lot of the current members of the ICC men’s soccer team from their time with the Tupelo Futbol Club.
Parish recalls being surprised Sullivan talking to him following each showcase. He feels his work rate and variety of skills helped convince Sullivan he could play at the next level.
Mark Box isn’t surprised Parish is getting a chance to play soccer in college. Box, who coached Parish for the last three seasons on the Caledonia High boys soccer team, said Parish blossomed when he returned from the Christmas break of his freshman season. He said Parish came back a faster and bigger player who also grew as a soccer player.
“It was like another kid had taken over his body,” Box said. “I always joke with him that he must have drank the Michael Jordan special sauce from the movie ‘Space Jam.’ He came back from Christmas and we were like, ‘Who is this kid?’ ”
Box said Parish continued to grow and always worked to polish his skills. He said Parish’s commitment to club soccer has exposed him to a higher level of play, which has helped elevate his contributions to the high school team. He realized Parish could be a fixture in the middle of the field late in his sophomore season, when he came on as a substitute in a match against Corinth in the Mississippi High School Activities Association Class 4A playoffs.
“His vision of the field and his ability to stop play helped him control the midfield,” Parish said. “He can stop play enough to slow stuff down and not be going forward all of the time. That is a hard thing to teach. You have to have that.”
Parish also has the ability to take constructive criticism. He said he listened to Sullivan’s comments after each showcase and tried to improve in those areas for the next showcase. Even though Parish doesn’t remember what Sullivan told him to work on, he said Sullivan told him he had improved from the last showcase and is now a solid all-around player.
Parish hopes to take that confidence and be an impact performer this season for Caledonia, which opens its season Saturday against Corinth. Next year, Parish will be ready to do whatever Sullivan asks to help the team. After years of attending showcases at ICC, Parish said he is prepared to make an impression on the field for the Indians.
“My communication on the field really lacked, but he said the next year I came out talking and was communicating more with my teammates more than the other years,” Parish said.
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino @cdispatch.com
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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