Cate School has a good track record of sending soccer players to college.
Daniel Boateng appears to be on that path after three solid seasons with the Rams.
Besides being an impact player on the pitch, Boateng is a great teammate, a leader and a good student. It’s those qualities that make him Cate’s deserving recipient of the Phil Womble Ethics in Sports Award.
The award is sponsored and presented by Dave Pintard of the Pintard Group commercial real estate firm through the Santa Barbara Athletic Round Table. It is presented to a high school junior student-athlete who demonstrates the highest standards of ethics and sportsmanship. The award recognizes “accountability, respect of teammates, opponents and officials, honesty, positive attitude, reliability, loyalty, sportsmanship, others above self and team above personal interest.”
Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Boateng’s award presentation was done in a virtual ceremony, with Pintard and Cate soccer coach Peter Mack participating.
A native of Ghana who came to Cate through the New Life Academy in the capital city of Accra, Boateng carries a 3.16 grade-point average while taking a course load that includes English 11, Algebra 2, biology, French, American history and ceramics.
He said American history is his favorite subject. He’s also involved in school government as the class senate president.
SBART Womble Award: Daniel Boateng from Dream Cast Media Group on Vimeo.
While impressed with Boateng’s abilities on the pitch, Mack gained greater respect for the player because of his humbleness and team-first attitude.
This past season, the attacking midfielder was sidelined by an injury, so Mack reshuffled his lineup and started two freshmen and a sophomore in the midfield. The trio clicked immediately, helping Cate make the CIF-Southern Section playoffs.
“They went out the gate like gangbusters, and for 80 minutes these three kids just dominated the middle of the field,” Mack said. “Daniel turned to me toward the end of the game and said: ‘Look, when I’m healthy, you can’t start me because you have to keep starting these guys; it’s good for the team and they’ve earned it.’’’
Mack didn’t start Boateng all season, but he finished every game.
“That says a lot about him, because he just wasn’t thinking about, ‘I need to be in the starting 11,’’’ Mack said. “We were thinking about what’s going to make us a better team going forward, and the confidence these young guys were playing with. He didn’t want to take that away from them.
“And, I will say this: There’s a luxury to bringing on one of the best players in California 10 minutes into the game and the other team has seen your top 11.
“I think that speaks volumes about Daniel.”
— Noozhawk sports editor Barry Punzal can be reached at bpunzal@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk Sports on Twitter: @NoozhawkSports. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.