The Ucal McKenzie Breakaway Foundation

Ucal McKenzie was a person who was very special to me. He died last year on May 30th at the age of 32. He was like my uncle. He was the finest man I ever knew. I respected him the most out of everyone I know. He was a soccer coach and worked at a high school. He was who I looked up to the most. I loved him so much. I didn’t really realize how much I loved him and looked up to him until he was gone. He did nothing wrong. He was just an honest, loving, respectful man. He died playing soc...

It was the summer before my sophomore year at Newton North and I was very excited for the upcoming soccer season. I had played freshman year but I did not attend tryouts due to an injury, so I didn’t really know what to expect. The only thing I knew for sure was that Ucal was a fun and energetic coach, Feiss was pretty chill, and that the both of them would definitely push us to our limits both on the ball and with conditioning.

My problem at the time was that I was at ...

I’ve known Ucal since I was eight years old, and he soon became my and my younger brother’s Godfather. He was the most kindhearted person I ever met, and he never judged me. My favorite memory of Ucal is when we made a dance to N Sync’s song “Bye Bye Bye”. Those were the good old days.

When Ucal and Sue Sue found out I was pregnant, they told me that everything was going to be ok, and that if I needed anything that they would be there. The thing that hu...

I had trouble deciding which way to take this piece, and ended up starting over this morning fueled by a sunrise over the mountains surrounding Cuernavaca, Mexico while my fiance slept peacefully in its glow. I chose to write about energy.

I didn’t know Ucal until he gave me a ride home. Don’t get me wrong, I knew him on the pitch for who he was as a member of a team, but it wasn’t until he spoke directly to me that I felt it.

“How are you, Vince?̶...

Like many of the previous spotlight writers I am struggling to put my thoughts into words, which is not an accurate reflection of the fine institutions of Newton North High School and Cambridge Rindge and Latin High School. I started to write a whole piece about how Ucal was the best coach I ever had and how no other coach will ever shape is players into such great human beings, but I started to get a little intense about how much better Ucal is than any other coach. Nevertheless, take som...

I will never forget Ucal.

For the last few months, the only memories I had of him were so depressing and frightening. First, it was the nightmare of seeing him collapse, of waiting for the ambulance as they seemed to take forever. First, it was of him lecturing me for not doing what I was supposed to do. First, it was of me not being as good as I could or should be. What I could have done, should have done, and didn’t.

I was the worst captain that Ucal could have asked fo...

Ucal McKenzie was a counselor at Newton North high school. He was happily married and always had a smile on his face. He coached the boys varsity soccer team along with a team outside of school during the year and ran multiple soccer camps during the summer. Ucal always seemed to enjoy life, and he lived everyday to the fullest. I had never seen Ucal frowning. Last year, Ucal died. His death was unexpected and brought the always-moving Newton North community to a stand still. What Ucal ach...

My mind has created a roadblock. Not a roadblock that prevents me from moving forward, but instead one that keeps me from being able to look back. Every time that I try to remember good times with Ucal, I can’t. This isn’t because we didn’t share any good times, or because I was just another one of his players, but instead this is because the pain is just something that my body won’t let itself recognize. The loss of Ucal is something that in my mind just doesn’t seem real. So instead of t...

It was my senior season at Cambridge Rindge & Latin High School, my third year within Ucal’s system since he had taken over as Varsity head coach my sophomore year. It was a special year. My class was pretty much the first crop that Ucal had raised and nurtured as high school players. That bond was enough for him to break out of his reputation amongst ourselves as a reserved, and a business-only approach as coach when we joined him on the varsity squad my junior year. The chemist...