In Their Own Words by Simeon Packer
This is part Two of an interview which was done first with Micah Linscott and now his teammate Simeon Packer of North Hardin. Both seniors have played together and have been successful as they both help lead the Trojans to their first ever trip last season to the KHSAA Final Four.
Simeon’s story: My older brother Stevie look very similar. I have learned everything from him. He was like a coach for me playing both Center and Midfielder. He was always a better athlete than I was even though he was older than me. He was always faster, stronger and could jump higher so I strived to be better than him. 
I remember when North Hardin won the 5th Region Tournament in 2012 and it was fun to watch him play and in fact if I was a year older I would have been varsity playing with him. Unfortunately, I was a year late so I didn’t, but it was always a good feeling to watch him play with Isaiah and Elijah (Micah’s older brothers) during that time.
I remember watching my brother’s Trojans beat Central Hardin at Nelson County in the Region Tournament in 2012 and then we won last season against Central Hardin at Nelson County. It was Deja vu all over again. I don’t want to say that it was better, but Micah and I have a better mindset about the game than our elder brothers did and we might have a little better skill than them in some instances. 
My definition of a scorer is someone who can share the ball and being able to know when to pass it and when to shoot it, dribble, take players on and being versatile. You have to be open minded to see the field, know when to pass it and how to shoot the ball. Where to shoot the ball. There is a lot of thinking and not every player can process it while they do play. I had a breakaway goal against Daviess County where I pulled the goalie out just enough so I could shoot past him. Breakaway’s are really scary because you never know where the goalie might dive or what he’s going to do so it’s also so it’s also one of the worst feelings. It requires a lot of thinking and you don’t want to over-think. 
Micah and I played on the Radcliff Youth League (The Chivas) and we won 60-straight games. Every game was a different experience. Like I said, I love playing with Micah and his presence on the field is always good. He knows what to do and how to do it. If you don’t know what to do then he’ll tell you. That’s Micah. The best memory was when we won state. That’s where it all started honestly. Chivas was where I met Micah and all the other guys at John Hardin because they all played on the Chivas, too. That’s where soccer started for me really.
Last season as I became a better scorer, teams began to mark me with a defender. I hate that, but a lot of the good players are going to get man marked. You have to live with it though. The one quality that I learned from Stevie was that even in the worst settings you should always try to do your best. He always knew how good I could be when I didn’t and he was always a workhorse. Even if he was having a bad day he would be running up and down the field and getting other teammates into play. He was always playing defense. I was shutout in the semi-state game last season against Fern Creek and I hate being shutout. It really does stink because you know you can do better, but that’s always the hard part of bringing your team together so we can score.
Like Micah, I’m being recruited by schools and it’s crazy. It’s like a broken record. Every coach says “Come on and visit and I’ll give you the best deal possible. You can watch your program play.” I’m going to get through it. I would love to get into health science, so if soccer doesn’t work out or after soccer, I would love to get into physical therapy or something in the health science field because I’ve always been interested in the human body and how it works.
