Photo by Kim North The McLeod family is pictured around the Christmas tree inside the Ohio County Board of Education building in Elm Grove. From left are Mike, Rynder, Tresz and Raquel.

WHEELING – Even the worst situations can make the best out of individuals.

Mike McLeod is one of the best athletes to wear a Wheeling Park uniform – he donned them in football, basketball and baseball where he was a first-team all-West Virginia honoree in all three.

However, he is also a humble guy who was mentored at a young age by several successful Wheeling Park head coaches, and others. Two of those mentors, the late basketball coach Sam Andy and late football coach Mark Nardone, were huge influences in helping mold McLeod into the athlete he was and the human being he would transform into.

“Sam was one of the pieces, along with Mark, that played big roles in my life as a kid. There are many other pieces that played parts, but Sam and Mark were the biggest.”

Nearly eight years ago, McLeod and his wife, Raquel, made a decision that has helped shape the lives of two young Wheeling residents. They adopted two boys from Wheeling, Tresz and Rynder, who are 14 months apart in age.

“This is one thing that my wife really wanted to do and I will go down any road with her,” he said. “We’ve been blessed to have the boys. They’ve changed our lives and we have helped change their lives.”

While the road hasn’t always been a smooth ride, the couple wouldn’t change a thing.

“It’s been a lot of fun. You try to develop them as you were developed and each one has different characteristics, which is great,” Mike McLeod said. “”You love each one of the same and you want to see them grow and continue to grow into young men. You hope that they continue to prosper.

“It’s just awesome because you see so many children that don’t get an opportunity … that are in certain situations that they don’t get to reach their ceiling, per se. Fortunately for us, we were able to take these two young men in, and they will reach their ceilings … their full potentials. Sometimes you get to reach that potential because of many things in life. You try to protect them, guide them and love them.”

Tresz, a senior at Wheeling Park High School, recalled the night that led him and his brother to leave their original home. He said his biological mother became physical with him and his brother grabbed her off of him. They lived with their sister and her father for a few weeks, but had to move again.

“They couldn’t take care of us any longer because they were busy with stuff of their own,” Tresz said.

They lived with the Saunders family for a while and Tresz said they treated him and his brother wonderfully, but they weren’t able to stay there long term.

The adoption process began when current Ohio County Schools Superintendent Kim Miller was the principal at Woodsdale Elementary School, where Tresz and Rynder were students.

“We met the boys the day before Tresz’s 10th birthday. Myself and Dr. Miller put together a birthday basketball party for Tresz,” Raquel McLeod recalled. “I was with Mike and I’s daughter, Francesca, and I called Mike and my mom and told them they had to come down and meet these two boys. They are absolutely amazing.”

That was the first time the soon-to-be family got together. It wouldn’t be the last.

“We didn’t know what was going to happen,” Raquel McLeod explained. “We knew the (Saunders) family that had taken them in couldn’t do it for the long run.

That, she continued, is when Miller called her and asked if the couple wanted to foster the boys. If the McLeods couldn’t, the boys would be placed into group homes and separated.

“I asked her how long we had until we had to make a decision, and she said ‘today by 3:30.’ It was 1:30 at the time. I said ‘well, I’d better call Mike. My mom had just moved in with us and I called them both to discuss it. The boys came a couple of times to visit and then they moved in with us.”

Because of their situation, the boys had never played an organized sport until they moved in with the McLeod’s. The YMCA was offering a 3-on-3 soccer league, and Raquel McLeod said she signed the boys up. The coach, Bill Konkle, was someone she knew from growing up.

“He asked how long they had been playing soccer and I said about two or three days,” she said. “He couldn’t believe how good they were.”

“I think they thought we were fast. We started playing soccer at the YMCA and I really liked it,” Tresz said. “I just kept grinding, working hard and watching videos.”

As his skills progressed, so did his soccer experiences. He played with a developmental team associated with the Pittsburgh Riverhounds professional soccer team.

“It’s the greatest experience I’ve had. They made me what I am today,” Tresz raved. “The coaches and the players pushed me to be the best that I could be.”

That best led to him being voted the West Virginia Class AAA Player of the Year following his just-completed junior season. And that’s without making the state tournament.

“I just feel blessed because of what I’ve been through in my life,” Tresz said. “It’s been amazing.”

He said he is so glad the McLeod’s made the decision they did.

“They have taught us that if you’re respectful to people, they will be respectful to you, and to always tell the truth,” Tresz said of what he’s learned from his parents. “You never know when you might need those people again in your life.

“I want to inspire the younger generation. If there are any other Black kids out there that aren’t motivated, that there’s opportunities for them out there like there were for me. You can do anything you want if you work hard.”

“I want to thank Dr. Miller for making the call to the McLeod’s,” Rynder said. “If it wasn’t for that call, who knows what might have happened.”

While Tresz is strictly a soccer player, Rynder also plays soccer but he is involved with basketball, bowling and track.

“He is on the varsity bowling team,” Raquel McLeod noted. “It’s pretty neat because he had never picked up a bowling ball. It’s been fun watching him.”

Despite all of the accolades their father received, he’s not one to tell stories about himself.

“He is very humble. He really doesn’t talk about his past with them,” Raquel McLeod added. “The stories they hear aren’t from him, they are from other people that come up to them. He rarely talks about his accomplishments.”

His and Raquel’s greatest accomplishment, they said, was adopting the boys.