LOXAHATCHEE – The Seminole Ridge boys soccer program is in the midst of its district playoffs, but they are doing so without the player who became their team leader and leading scorer.
Raheem Binns will don his uniform but will remain on the bench for those games, cheering his teammates on as he recovers from a foot injury that continues to sideline him.
“It’s tough because it’s right before that [end of the] season, but if we’re winning, I don’t mind,” Binns said. “But it’s bittersweet. I was probably at my peak.”
Much of the gap in the offense has been filled by Cameron Koch, but despite playing six fewer games, Binns still claims a share of the goalscoring title for the Hawks thus far – each has found the back of the net 15 times.
So what has Binns meant to the team this season? It’s an easy question for head coach John Waddington to answer.
“Oh my God – everything,” Waddington said. “Raheem was great last year. He was a strong player. But the difference from last year to this year was phenomenal. His touch. His compassion. People fed up with him and he just became that team player that everyone needed. Not only was he a team player, but he was scoring the goals on top of it.”
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It was an equally easy decision for The Palm Beach Post to recognize Binns as Athlete of the Week. His exploits on the field and his leadership off of it were universally supported by the sports community.
For Binns, the season has been a success so far, regardless of whether he gets the opportunity to play in the playoffs.
They’ve beaten many of the teams he says the Hawks lost to or would have lost to last season, an important testament to the strength and growth of the team’s core.
“Before the season, we just knew it was going to be a special season,” he said. “All of the players could feel it, everyone just feeding off of the energy. It was a mood.”
When his focus isn’t on his teammates during the postseason run, it’s on linking up with college coaches to further his career in the sport, creating highlight reels, and researching college programs.
“I want to go to the highest level possible,” Binns said. “I want to reach as far as I can go in this sport.”