Erie Otters coach Robbie Ftorek wants his players to go the extra mile this season. That’s how his youngest child, Anna Ftorek, would want it.
“She always did extra,” he said of his daughter, who died unexpectedly July 21 at the age of 23.
Anna taught the young players on the soccer team she coached to do the same.
That lesson started with T-shirts she presented to first-year players. The phrase “It’s Never Crowded on the Extra Mile” were emblazoned on them, which prompted her players to continue working hard long after other players had left the field.
“How many other people are (out) there working? See, it wasn’t crowded over there. That’s what she would say,” Robbie Ftorek said. “How come I can’t get these guys to think like that? She wasn’t going to be a pro in anything. These guys think they want to be pros (in hockey). Yet they don’t get it. So I get mad (because) I know how hard she worked to get better.”

- Victor Fernandes