Back in the day at Voyager Elementary School we used to play a lot of soccer at recess. Typically, we would play 2nd-4th grade against the 5th graders. This would usually amount to a 20-30 vs. 8-12 scenario and if it wasn't for one factor, us younger kids would have always been slaughtered by the much more talented 5th graders. This one factor was Danny Waltman.
Danny Waltman was a 5th grader. Probably the best 5th grader at that. He could dribble past anyone and score from 50 yards out. Okay, maybe not 50 yards out, but he was amazing. To make things fair the teams fair, he would always play with us younger kids.
When I say "play with" I choose those words carefully, because that is exactly what he would do. Despite the fact that all of us sucked (except for maybe Andy and Drew) and he could easily dribble through the entire opposing team (this is no exaggeration), he was always a team player and would do everything he could to make us feel like we were actually doing something to help the team. I'm pretty sure the first legitimate soccer recess goal I ever scored came off of a Danny Waltman assist.
At some point near the end of his 5th grade year I can remember sitting with him by the wallball courts and him telling me that he was moving and that he wouldn't be going to Kopachuck Middle School, which was right across the way. This pretty much meant that I would never see him again.
To get to the point of all this, Danny Waltman was my hero in elementary school. If there was anyone that I wanted to be like during those years on the playground, it was him. Throughout the years I've always wondered what happened to him, that is until today when Facebook informed me that another elementary school friend of mine had joined the Danny Waltman Fan Club.
Holy S***!!!! Danny Waltman?!?!
Apparently, Danny went onto be a 4 year starter at Bellarmine Prep. He also attended the University of Washington where he made second team All Pac-10 his senior year and was voted Most Inspirational by his teammates. Currently, he plays in the Major League Indoor Soccer League as a goalie for the Detroit Ignition.
I don't think he himself is on Facebook, and I probably will never get a chance to talk to him. But on the off chance that he decides to Google his name and this page pops up...
Danny,
Thank you for being my hero all those days on the Voyager playground. You were an inspiration and role model to us all.
Sincerely,
-The little asian kid that used to follow you around at recess... and was really bad at soccer
Note: This is a recollection from my elementary school days and might not be 100% accurate, but is it the best I can remember things. I'm a little hazy on how the teams were split up grade wise (it may have been 1-3 vs 4-5) and I can't recall exactly why I was never going to see Danny again. I do however clearly remember sitting down with him by the wallball courts and him telling me that he was going away.
2 comments:
Ha, I can't believe you wrote that whole thing about Danny. He was a buddy of mine all growing up at temple (yes, he's a Jew too, we rock). He did go to Kopachuck (as I went there with him) why didn't you go to Kop, cuz we would have been there at the same time (you as a 6th and me as an 8th)! Also, I believe that his dad was part owner of the Tacoma stars at some point, and he'd go into the locker room after the game.
It caught me totly off guard when I read your blog!
I just saw Federer win in the third set, it was awesome!!
--AB
Maybe it was just the fact that he was going onto middle school and in little kid time two years equates to forever.
I didn't go to Kopachuck because my parents decided to send me to this school with a bunch of stuck up preppy kids instead...
-dunkie
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