Shadle Park Soccer Starter’s Next Stop Air Force Academy

The way Peter Raber barks orders on the soccer field, it’s appropriate that the Shadle Park sweeper is headed for Air Force Academy.

“People tell me that after the first year I’ll be happy I went through it for the knowledge and leadership,” Raber said.

Leadership is something Raber, who has played every game since his freshman year, already provides for the Highlanders.

“You can tell which one he is,” said an opposing coach. “He’s loud and authoritative, almost a coach on the field.”

Not only is that the stuff of a future Air Force officer, but it is also a reason Shadle Park finds itself in the middle of a Greater Spokane League title race after being picked no better than seventh.

“Mead would have to lose out, which is possible but not probable,” said coach Stuart Saunders, who has been with the program five years. “If we win out we’ll be second which is the best finish we’ve had.”

In Raber’s first three years, the Highlanders went 21-18-9 including a third-place 9-3-4 finish to make the playoffs in 1994. Shadle is currently 4-2 with matches remaining against Ferris and University.

Raber is the only Highlander during that time to have started every game after showing up at a practice as an eighth grader and inquiring if a freshman could start.

He had played soccer since age five or six, starting up in league with his brother who is two years older. He has been a member of premier and Olympic Development Program (ODP) teams.

Saunders put him at outside midfield in the spring of 1993, “where you can hide an inexperienced player,” the coach said. “Like most freshmen the mental aspects were there, but he was physically not able to stand up.”

By the end of the season Raber was. He became the starting sweeper and Shadle upset eventual state third-placing North Central 3-0.

“I was scared,” said Raber. “Obviously I did well and he kept me there.”

It was in ODP where Raber was asked to be vocal and direct traffic from the vantage point of his key defensive position.

“I tell the guys I’m not ripping on them, I’m trying to help,” he said. “We all talk. Usually I’m the most talkative.”

He prefers the physical nature of defense where he can watch a player come at him with the ball and react.

“It’s a lot harder work, you have to stay with the ball,” he said. “They (forwards) get the creative part and you have to counter it.”

Shadle’s wins have been by shutout. Their losses have both been 2-1, to Mead and in overtime to Gonzaga Prep.

“Our defense,” including Jason Wells, Steven Dixson and Jason Meyers, “is strong,” he said.

The Highlander 4.0 student was directed to the Air Force Academy by Dick Cullen, Mead’s coach. Cullen’s oldest son, Chris, went there and the youngest, Rich, will be in Raber’s class at Colorado Springs.

“They thought it would be good for me. They said it is a great experience and that I’d fit into the soccer program,” Raber said.

He plans to use the education not only to continue soccer but also to study ophthalmology.

And to hone his leadership skills.

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