Cashell alumni offer valuable lesson: Hard work helps dreams come true

by Judith Hruz

Editor

It was a holiday gift they won’t forget any time soon.

Students and staff of Cashell Elementary School spent a Monday morning in December with two alumni who discussed their careers as professional athletes and perhaps inspired the youngsters to live up to the school slogan: Strive for Excellence.

James Wood, a 6-foot-7 outfielder with the Washington Nationals who made his MLB debut with the hometown team this past season, and Luis Almeida, a defender with the Maryland Bobcats, the community-based professional club founded in 2010 and located in Montgomery County, stood at the front of a room full of excited and proud students and teachers.

The audience, clad in sports jerseys of all types, were clearly in awe of their sports heroes.

Almeida, who will turn 27 next month, began playing soccer when he was six years old; he said his family was “very soccer-oriented.”

He went to Europe, where soccer is king, and played there before returning to take a position with the Bobcats.

The Maryland Bobcats Football Club (MBFC) is the only United States Soccer Federation (USSF)-sanctioned professional outdoor soccer team in Maryland. Competing in the National Independent Soccer Association (NISA), the third division of U.S. Soccer, the Bobcats are dedicated to discovering, developing and preparing local talent for the professional level.

Wood was drafted by the San Diego Padres in the second round of the 2021 MLB draft, with the 62^nd overall pick. He signed with the team on July 20, 2021.

The Padres trades Wood to the Nationals in exchange for Juan Soto and Josh Bell in August 2022.

He said he wanted to play professional baseball as a young child.

Getting to play close to home, Wood said, is part of the dream-come-true of playing pro ball.

“My family, my friends, everyone can come see me play,” he told The Greater Olney News. “It makes the experience even more unique.”

Almeida agreed that playing close to home adds another level of excitement to the game.

“My family and the community can see me after being in Europe where they could not easily see me,” he said.

Almeida and Wood answered dozens of questions from students who had lined up to ask them one after the other.

They stressed the importance of playing hard and putting in extra work.

“I work every day on ways to get better,” 22-year-old Wood said.

But one question they did not answer: Who was your favorite teacher at Cashell.

“All of them,” they said.

The former Cashell Cougars are excellent athletes and diplomats.