TAMAQUA, Pa. — Crowds cheer as players run up and down the field at the boys' varsity soccer game at Tamaqua Area High School.
But something many fans may not know, seven of the players are boy scouts.
"I grew up with a lot of these guys. It's great to know them so well, and we know how much work we've all put in to get to where we've been and how much work we're still putting in to continue bettering ourselves and achieving higher ranks," said Jathan Krall, junior.
And that bond is present on and off the field.
Zac Yenser is one of the newer soccer players on the team and says his fellow scouts really took him under their wing.
"I knew who to go to for help, and it made it easier for, like in practice, and I needed help, I could just go up to one of the guys I knew already, and they helped me make friends," said Yesner, sophomore.
Yenser, Alexander Nattress, and Krall are three of the four Eagle Scouts on the team; they're helping to mentor three other aspiring scouts.
"Just the fact of how many of us have achieved it, the idea of 'oh these other guys have done it,' makes the idea of like 'oh I have to do all this stuff' a lot less scary and a lot easier for them to go and try and get," said Krall.
"Scouting as a whole is a very good platform for allowing students and general youth alike to not only benefit each other and themselves but to benefit the world as a whole," said Nattress, senior.
Will Behun is one of the players working toward his Eagle rank.
He was inspired to plan an Eagle Scout project that involved all of his teammates while giving back to their childhood soccer field.
"Miller Park was where I played soccer as a kid and stuff. And like it doesn't have as much landscaping as it is right now. And it kinda looks like dim. So hopefully, we can light it up again to get more people to come," said Behun.
Will hopes to have his plan for miller park approved soon so he can start working on his Eagle Scout project along with his teammates.
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