Hanover Central keeper a globetrotter

Updated: September 21, 2011 9:29PM

B.K. Sakelaris has traveled the world as a People to People Student Ambassador. She’s visited the United Kingdom, France, Australia, New Zealand, the Galapagos Islands and Hawaii.

The program provides students with opportunities to learn about other cultures and visit places they might otherwise not see.

But this past summer, the Hanover Central junior traveled abroad as a People to People Sports Ambassador. It’s the same deal, except it involves athletics. And this time the destination was Brazil.

For someone who is a soccer junkie and who has been playing the sport since she was a little girl, it was like taking a mythical journey to some great faraway soccer kingdom.

“It was just one of those opportunities that I was so happy to experience,” Sakelaris said. “I was like, holy cow, I’m at a place where they eat, sleep and breathe soccer.”

Sakelaris spent two weeks in Brazil, training and playing with a team of other players from the United States and Canada. The first week they trained. The second week they took part in a tournament, one in which Sakelaris was the goalkeeper in a championship game that was decided by penalty kicks.

“It was the best experience ever,” Sakelaris said. “I want to go back so badly.”

Perhaps someday. But right now, Sakelaris and her Hanover teammates are in the midst of a remarkable season, with an 8-1 mark heading into the week and an eye on capturing an outright Northwest Indiana Soccer Conference title.

“It’s what we were hoping for,” Sakelaris said. “We were underestimated a bit heading into the season.”

Sakelaris, whose given name is Bernadette Katherine but goes by the shortened B.K., is in her third season starting in goal for the Wildcats. She began playing keeper in sixth grade when another keeper got hurt. Her coach asked her if she’d be interested in the position, and she said yes. Now she plays year-round, focusing solely on soccer.

“There aren’t a lot of people who volunteer for that spot,” Hanover coach Jim Pattison said. “She’s always liked it and has always wanted to play keeper. That’s an advantage. When you have someone who wants to play it, it makes it so much easier to teach.”

Pattison has seen steady improvement in Sakelaris’ game in goal over the years. But he said she is markedly improved since returning from the trip to Brazil.

“She understands the game a lot more,” Pattison said. “She understands the angles. She seems to have a better feel for the game.”

Sakelaris, who had seven shutouts last year for Hanover and has four this year, said a number of coaches on the trip helped point to certain areas of improvement in her game.

“They pointed out all the little details,” Sakelaris said. “It just helped me a lot.”

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