The glue that holds the team together

We tried soccer with Elliott when he was 3 because, like most parents of newly upright children, we were convinced that he was a gifted athlete. But the season was marked by wild scrums around the ball, minor injuries and lots of tears. The highlight reel was all of a kid named Daniel who was actually very skilled. It seemed his father may have been running some drills at home. I guessed this because the dad stalked the sidelines like a madman screaming instructions at the poor kid. “Daniel! Get the ball! Dan-yull!! Dan-yell!!!” Daniel scored about 15 goals a game while most of the kids tallied dandelions and a burgeoning indifference to sports.

So we put soccer on the shelf indefinitely, but this season Elliott and his buddy Colin schemed to get on the same team and the Decatur Recreation department kindly obliged. Kristen and I were skeptical and prepared for a short season so we just borrowed old cleats from a neighbor. At the first practice, he tentatively got into the flow. He seemed more comfortable playing defense. While most 6 and 7 year old kids are only concerned with scoring goals, he’s an assist guy. He bounced up from a hard slide tackle that would have signaled “game over” in past years. He ran hard, competed and smiled. This was a breakthrough of an hour at Adair Park for the Sullivan family.

As a kid, I lived and breathed basketball. In 2nd grade I spent so much time hanging around 5th and 6th grade team that Coach O’Toole gave me a uniform, a spot on the end of the bench and a pack of tissues to wipe my nose. My brother Rob was a 6th grader and a starter. I’m pretty certain no one has tracked the history of Our Lady of Sorrows Elementary School basketball teams to positively say so, but I think they were the best ever. Two years later, his class carried the Varsity squad to another championship and three decades later I still think of that team when watching youth sports.

They were good athletes for sure, but what really set them apart was that they were all unselfish players. At point guard was Steve Hillebrecht, who was the most fundamentally skilled player on the team and perhaps in the entire league. On the wings were Eddie Byrne and Frankie Bensel - two sharpshooters who were absolutely menacing on the diamond-and-one press after a made basket. Down low, providing a good chunk of scoring and a wide shouldered presence, was Steve DeLuca.

Then there was the glue guy, Rob, who just made everyone better. A fitting role perhaps as Rob is the fifth of 10 children in our family - the baby brother to the older guys and the big brother to those of us in younger half. Rob was stronger than his relatively slight build would have suggested and played a physical game. He boxed out and grabbed tons of rebounds. He would rifle outlet passes to the speedsters to start fast breaks. He played great defense, drew hard offensive fouls and wasn’t afraid to ham it up to ensure the ref got the call right. If needed, he even scored some points. Without him, the team would have been pretty good but with him, they were superlative.

So now at Elliott’s first soccer game I’m beaming on the sidelines as he quietly breaks up an advance on the defensive end. He gathers himself and the ball and foots it up to one of the star players at center forward for a scoring opportunity on the other end of the field. I’m thinking about glue. And I‘m thinking about what kind of an athlete and person I hope he grows up to be. And I’m thinking about his Uncle Rob and I’m thinking that I like the way this kid plays the game.

Tim Sullivan grew up in a large family in the Northeast and now lives with his small family in Oakhurst. He can be reached at tim@sullivan nerugs.com.

The much-anticipated Inman Park Festival takes place this month (more about that on Page 32), so it seemed appropriate to feature the neighborhood as our snapshot for April.

Inman Park is probably best known for its collection of colorful 19th and 20th century mansions in the Queen Anne, Italianate and Romanesque styles. The neighborhood was planned in the late 1880s by Joel Hurt, a civil engineer and real-estate developer who wanted to create a rural oasis connected to the city by the first electric streetcar. Hurt named the community after his friend and business associate, Samuel M. Inman.

If you drive down Edgewood Avenue, you’ll see the historic Trolley Barn, now an event space, where streetcars were stored and maintained along the route. With the new streetcar coming online this summer in Downtown and discussion of linking it to the Atlanta BeltLine, Inman Park may see “trolleys” once again.

Like many Intown neighborhoods, Inman Park saw a decline in the 50s and 60s as more people fled for the suburbs. In the 70s, the neighborhood started to bounce back and residents banded together to prevent the planned I-485 expressway from decimating the community.

Today, Inman Park is thriving with new businesses and restaurants, such as the hip Barcelona Wine Bar and pizza favorite Friti. New lofts and townhomes have been built on reclaimed industrial areas, while the 280 Elizabeth Street project is bringing luxury apartments and more retail to the neighborhood. The Atlanta BeltLine Eastside Trail, which runs along the neighborhood’s western border, has made Inman Park one of the most desirable residential areas in the city once again.

Clockwise from left: Barcelona is one of Inman Park’s most popular restaurants; a rendering of the under-construction 280 Elizabeth Street project; a tasting preview of The Spotted Trotter at Krog Street Market; one of Inman Park’s most beautiful mansions; and the historic Trolley Barn on Edgewood Avenue.