Soccer stars out for WM

Soccer stars out for WM

Davis and Branch to make history for school

WM School District West Memphis' Jeff Davis and Joseph Branch will make some local history next week.

The two will be the first soccer representatives for West Memphis in the soccer all-star game June 22 at 7 p.m. on the campus of the University of Central Arkansas. The game will be one of several featured during All-Star week, sponsored by the Arkansas High School Coaches Association.

'It's a big honor,' said Davis, the Blue Devils head coach. 'It should be a fun time and exciting to watch all the best soccer players in the state.'

It's actually Davis' third time to be named to the all-star coaching staff. He served on staff twice before when he was head coach at Searcy, where he won a state championship.

He last served as an allstar coach in 2007.

Branch, who is believed to be the first-ever all-star soccer rep for West Memphis, was primarily a midfielder, although as Davis said, he 'played all over the field.'

'I'm real excited about playing in the game,' said Branch. 'I've been training for the last three weeks to a month. I'll do whatever (the coaches) want me to do, but I just want to represent West Memphis and my family well.'

Davis, who is also the head football coach at East Junior High, said the allstar games are the culmination of hard work put in during the school year.

'The all-star week is always a fun week,' he said. 'All the athletes get to attend all the other allstar games in other sports.

It makes it a lot of fun.'

Davis added he thinks his East squad will match up favorably with the West.

'The talent in soccer always runs in cycles, but I think we'll stack up well with the West this year,' he stated.

By Billy Woods