All Saints’ Diaz leading Pellissippi soccer team She’s ‘grateful for the opportunity’ as she becomes the first head coach for the new college program Association in October 2022. “I think as a JUCO program we have the responsibility to help develop our student athletes at the individual level in a holistic approach,” Ms. Diaz said. “This means creating an environment where the individual is challenged to be the best version of themselves in the classroom, field, weight room, and in the community, to be able to propel them to their next steps in their career. I believe that this is the school’s mission as well, so being able to adopt those core principles to how I want to evolve our program just goes hand in hand.” Her first Panthers team has 23 players on the roster with “a bit of diversity on the squad,” Ms. Diaz said. “We are made up of mostly local Knoxville players. Some are Mexican American. We have a player from South Korea and three players from California,” she said. “I am from Mexico, and I am fortunate to have a handful who speak Spanish, which elevates the mix. We are very happy with the direction of the program and the buy-in from our players. We are growing day to day. The girls have embraced themselves and this opportunity.” In a recent Pellissippi State news release, Ms. Diaz said she is “looking for kids with great character who want to embrace the opportunity to start at Pellissippi State, who see this as a time of growth and are ready to work hard.” “Good people—it’s the key to success,” she said. “Being in an environment with people who have desire and accountability will create grit and a strong team. This opportunity and this program will embrace character.” Ms. Diaz is a lifelong soccer player who grew up in Knoxville
DAN MCWILLIAMS
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ariana Diaz Lopez of All Saints Parish in Knoxville is making an impact in local sports as the first women’s soccer head coach at Pellissippi State Community College as the school launches an athletics program this fall. Ms. Diaz played Division II soccer at Lincoln Memorial University and was a five-year captain there. She most recently served as an assistant women’s soccer coach at LMU and graduated with a master’s degree in business administration in May. She describes her selection as the Pellissippi coach as a “blessing.” “I am very grateful for the opportunity to lead and design this program and to have the support of our administration,” she said. “This project is going to elevate and diversify the collegiate experience for all student athletes in our community. I am so excited for the future, and I am so motivated to work day to day to construct an empowering and elevating culture for our student athletes.” Pellissippi State announced last November that it is adding competitive athletics. The school also has men’s soccer, women’s volleyball, men’s golf, and men’s and women’s cross country and halfmarathon teams. “Mariana is an exciting coach with experience in NCAA Division II soccer,” said Pellissippi State athletics director Brock Evans. “She will bring a passionate and distinctive brand of soccer to the pitch. Mariana has a great proficiency in coaching the technical side of the game, and she will be able to develop a high-level technical team with a drive to compete at the highest level.” Pellissippi was accepted into the National Junior College Athletic
By Dan McWilliams
Making a point Mariana Diaz Lopez leads a recent soccer practice for her Pellissippi State Community College women’s soccer team. and in 2017 graduated from Halls High School, where she played for the Lady Red Devils soccer team for two years. At age 15, she spent time at Dave Goldschmitt’s Inter Futbol Academy. “I am very passionate. I think that’s something that the girls saw from day one. I love the game. I love the dynamic of teamwork,” she said. “Dave Goldschmitt is my mentor, my coach. He lit that fire in me to pursue this passion to the level that I did. And I have never looked back.” Ms. Diaz also serves as a student success coordinator in Pellissippi’s Stay Strong Success Center, which helps students navigate the many transitions and challenges they may encounter during their college experience. She will focus on areas such as academic planning, study skills, and cultivating a sense of belonging. “I am a student success coach, which is an awesome part of this job,” she said. “We get to connect and guide students through their
collegiate careers at the academic level. I think this part of the job strengthens our athletic department because we are reinforcing academic excellence and accountability. We have also been able to connect with so many great people in our college, and it has given us the insight of all the amazing support this institution has for all students.” Ms. Diaz’s mother, Alicia, of All Saints Parish is a widow who raised Mariana and her half-brother, Erik. “My mom is my hero, my rock, and my biggest supporter,” Ms. Diaz said. “She’s a warrior who has raised my brother and me. She exemplifies grit and encourages me to chase after my goals. ‘Get up and go again’—she showed me that falling down is an opportunity of strength. Soccer has been that you go again and again—you have to have personality and commitment to play this beautiful game. God has put amazing people in my life, and my mom has always enSoccer continued on page B2
Ulster Project unites Northern Ireland, U.S. teens East Tennessee families host Northern Ireland youth and see the bonds and friendships that form
COURTESY OF ULSTER PROJECT OF EAST TENNESSEE
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orthern Ireland has a storied past of violence known as The Troubles, an ethno-nationalist conflict that lasted around 30 years from the 1960s to the 1990s. The population was divided, largely between Catholics and Protestants, concerning whether Northern Ireland should reunite with the Republic of Ireland or remain in the United Kingdom. In the 1970s, a Church of Ireland (Anglican) clergyman named Rev. Kerry Waterstone believed that teenagers from Northern Ireland might be positively influenced by the American way of life in the “melting pot” society of various races, religions, and ethnicities. Rev. Waterstone received approval from Anglican church leaders and began to implement a plan that focused on addressing the prejudices and stereotypes of the time, and the Ulster Project was born in 1975. Various programs now exist throughout the United States, from Ohio to Texas to Wisconsin to Arizona. In 1985, the Ulster Project came to East Tennessee, with the first group of teens arriving from Northern Ireland in 1986. John Hough, a current board member and former president of the Ulster Project of East Tennessee, currently serves as the chairperson of the board that oversees interac-
Riding the rapids Both American and Northern Irish teens enjoy a day on the Ocoee River during their summer experience of the Ulster Project, which unites teens of different faiths from the two countries. tions between projects in the United States and projects in Northern Ireland. “I’ve been involved with the project for 15 years this year,” Mr. Hough said. “I started out as just a host. I hosted counselors, so people who were coming over from Northern Ireland and needed a place to stay who were the adult leaders who were coming with the teens. I joined the board the next year, and then for seven years I was the president of the Ulster Project,
first in Oak Ridge, and then in 2012 when we merged with Knoxville to become the Ulster Project of East Tennessee, I was the president of that group for, I think, three years it was.” Mr. Hough, who is a parishioner at St. Mary Parish in Oak Ridge, said that Catholic teenagers participated from numerous parishes around the diocese, including St. John XXIII, the Cathedral of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, All Saints, all in Knoxville, and St.
By Gabrielle Nolan
Mary. Christina Adams, a parishioner at St. John XXIII and a board member for the Ulster Project of East Tennessee, has been involved since 2017. “I’ve had both my kids participate in it; my daughter did it twice,” Ms. Adams said. “I will tell you, the first day or two can be pretty awkward, and then when they go home at the end, at the airport I will tell you there is not a dry eye. The bonds between them that are formed, all the teens, not just between the U.S. teens and Northern Irish teens but within the Northern Irish teens. You have in Northern Ireland that Protestant and Catholic teens for the most part attend different schools and live in different neighborhoods and don’t necessarily interact all that much with each other. It’s definitely beginning to change more, but there’s still definite barriers, and the friendships that are formed—a lot of teens will tell you that before they participated they never necessarily had a meaningful conversation with someone from a different faith tradition.” Ms. Adams noted that the host families are critical to the mission of the Ulster Project. Both Catholic and Protestant churches are inUlster continued on page B3