By the halfway point of his Franklin soccer career, Owen Atkison had scored 31 goals and been part of 23 victories.
It was then that he changed his approach to the game.
“My sophomore year I think I felt I had something to prove and got focused on scoring goals,” said Atkison, a senior midfielder. “It was a combination of coach (Tony) Harris and my teammates, especially (2018 graduate) Joe Nerding, who emphasized working as a team.
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“When I started putting things more into perspective, the goals just started to happen. Ultimately, it’s all about winning.”
The Grizzly Cubs have done their share since Atkison made his varsity debut as a freshman. Since 2015, the team is 41-18-5 and 19-5 against Mid-State Conference competition. Franklin finished as league champion in Atkison’s sophomore season and second the other two years.
Atkison became the Grizzly Cubs’ career leader in goals last month, and he has 85 entering Thursday’s match at Greenwood. He is one of three Franklin captains, along with senior defenders Drew Beasley and Garrett Snyder.
“Owen’s first couple of years it was more all about ‘me,’” Harris said. “He has really bought into what we’re doing as a team and really become a team leader. In practice, he’s more of a lead-by-example guy, but in a match it’s a lot different. It’s competition, and that’s part of it.”
Atkison was honored as Daily Journal Player of the Year following a junior campaign in which he scored 33 goals and assisted on 13 others.
An excellent student with a 4.23 grade-point average, Atkison would like to major in finance in college and continue playing soccer. He has yet to commit to a university, though Marian, the University of Indianapolis and IUPUI are showing interest.
While no one could have predicted 85 goals (and counting) at the varsity level when Atkison was running around soccer fields as an 8-year-old, he demonstrated skills early.
“I was coaching him as a parent for his first two seasons and was like, “I can’t teach this kid any more,’” said Adam Atkison, Owen’s father, who proceeded to enroll the oldest of his three sons in the South Central Soccer Academy.
“I’m surprised Owen has stuck with it as long as he has because sometimes kids burn out on a sport. But Owen can’t get enough of it. It’s unreal. He loves the game and loves learning about the game.”
What few spare moments Owen Atkison has often are devoted to working out to become stronger, extra time on the practice field or attending practices with his brother, Griffin, 14, and his soccer teammates.
Fittingly, Owen Atkison had a goal and two assists in the Cubs’ first match during his freshman season, finding the back of the net a split second before the end of the first half, and chipping in two assists in a 6-0 shutout of Speedway.
“I was relieved,” Atkison remembered. “I just wanted to get everything kick-started.”
Literally and figuratively, he did.
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Career statistics for Franklin boys soccer player Owen Atkison:
Year;Goals;Assists
2015;14;12
2016;17;13
2017;33;13
2018;21;13
Totals;85;51
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