Most coaches are looking for athletes with good hands and good hand-eye coordination. Not John DelaTorre, head soccer coach at McDonald County High School. He's looking for athletes with good feet and good foot-eye coordination.
In senior Eh Doh Say, there was none better with his feet. The diminutive forward, who stands just over five feet tall and weighs under 130 pounds, was the Mustangs' leading scorer the past two years, earning post-season honors both years.
But as good as Say is on the soccer field, the story on how he came to be a McDonald County Mustang is even better. Say was born in 2002 in Myanmar. Until 1989, the name of the southeast Asia country was Burma. Say and his family, an older sister and a younger brother, along with their mom and dad, were forced to flee to Thailand when Eh Doh was four years old. They are members of the Karen ethnic people, the second-largest ethnic group in the country, but still comprising only 10 percent of the population.
"We were running away," Eh Doh said. "Myanmar tried to take over the Karen people. That's why there was fighting, so we went to a refugee camp in Thailand. During Eh Doh's formative years, from age 4 to 11, he lived in a refugee camp in Thailand.
"The only thing we could do was go to school," he said. "After school, we had free time and would just hang out and play around."
In the camp, each family would build its own one-room shelter, mostly out of bamboo. Food was mainly rice and curry.
"We would sleep on the ground," Eh Doh said. "No pillow."
He said his dad would be gone for a year or so at a time to go find work, mostly cutting bamboo and wood for other refugees.
"It was hard for us to get food, so my dad applied for the U.S.," he said.
The family was accepted as refugees by the U.S. and settled in Texas with several other members of the Karen people.
"When I lived in Houston, the Karen leaders began spreading out and the refugee people started moving around," Eh Doh said. "Some people go to Arkansas, some go to Minnesota. At first, we were going to move to Minnesota, but one of my dad's friends, he say he was going to help us, and we moved there. My dad liked the work here so we stay." It was the second semester of Eh Doh's eighth-grade year when the family arrived in Noel.
"It was a little scary because I didn't know nobody," Eh Doh said. "Junior (fellow MCHS senior Junior Teriek) is the one who helped me out."
The following school year, Say was enrolled as a freshman at McDonald County High School, where he began his multi-sport career.
"I was thinking about doing football," he said. "I didn't know they had a soccer team. A friend told me I ought to play soccer and I said, 'Yeah, soccer.'"
Say said he began playing soccer in Thailand, but just kicking the ball around. He said he then played youth soccer in Houston but didn't know a lot of skills then.
"I started to play here as a freshman," Eh Doh said. "I also play on a travel team in a summer league."
In his last two years playing soccer at MCHS, Eh Doh has been coached by DelaTorre.
"Eh Doh is a really driven kid," DelaTorre said. "When I first got here, he was a bit selfish. He has really grown and matured the past two years. He is not as much about himself as he is others around him. I have never heard about him getting in trouble of any kind or his grades slipping. He is a good person and a good teammate."
Say said DelaTorre really helped him become a better soccer player as well as helping in other areas.
"I really appreciate what coach did for me," he said. "He got me way better this year. Without our coach, we don't have a team. When we put the jersey on, we have to respect the school. You have to give your heart to it. We got a good leader with good character when coach came here."
Say would be labeled a gym rat if the soccer field was inside the gym. In fact, he went out for the track team at Noel in his first semester of going to school in McDonald County.
He is always playing a sport or doing something athletic. He went out for track as a freshman and then as a sophomore, he went for wrestling.
"At first I didn't want to do it, but coach Factor (MCHS coach Josh Factor) wanted me to try out," Eh Doh said. "My dad said 'whatever you start, you have to finish.' My sophomore year I didn't know the technique, so I got beat a lot. I think I should stop, but my dad give me motivation when you do something you have to finish it."
"Eh Doh is just one of those kids you can see is very athletic," Factor said. "I had him in the summer school P.E. tournament when he was a freshman and saw what he had to offer. I asked him if he would be interested in going out for the team. He ended up being a starter as a sophomore and, from that point on, he has just kept improving. He was all-conference (second team) last year and this year he has a chance to go to state."
Say said the one thing he enjoys about being involved in three sports is meeting people from other schools, which fits in with his Karen culture.
"I like the people here," Eh Doh said. "It's fun to live here -- back in Texas you have to be really tough. But around here you just do your own thing. Karen people get along with everyone. People who come to my house, I welcome them -- any race. Whoever comes to my house are my guest and we feed them and welcome them as guests."
Sports on 11/14/2019