Friends, family mourn loss of popular Chariho student, girls soccer team captain + video

RICHMOND, R.I. — #Forever11 was spelled out in white paper cups stuck into the fence. The scoreboard clock on the field was set to 11 minutes.

Eleven was the number worn by Maddie Potts, 17, co-captain of the Chariho girls soccer team who died Sunday from a brain aneurysm that felled her as she was about to take a penalty shot during a game Saturday night.

About 1,000 people gathered for a candlelight vigil on the same field Monday evening, photos of Maddie's life were projected onto the front wall of the press box. Her parents climbed the stairs into the elevated box to watch in privacy. Members of her team formed a circle around the place on the field where she had dropped — the 30-yard line — and stood there arm in arm. Then the team returned to view the slide show.

Her mother, Stephanie Potts, said in a speech she read by candlelight that the spot on the 30-yard line held Maddie's shin guards, her newly monogrammed cleats, her soccer bag and a few other items.

After the pledge of allegiance to a flag at half-staff, those gathered observed 11 seconds of silence.

Luminarias were lit in the end zone during remarks from the Chariho athletic director, the head of the Chariho Youth Soccer Association, the sports boosters president and the girls soccer coach.

They described a young woman who was an athlete, an artist, an excellent student, an ideal team captain and an honor to have coached.

Everyone was instructed that they would have 11 minutes to spread the flame onto candles they had brought and to console the people around them.

Other athletes spoke. A freshman teammate performed her rap song that included the rhyme: “There’s no 11 to my 10, but that’s okay because my 11’s in heaven.”

Stephanie Potts said the only thing that could help the family's grief, and that of the community, was to share the pain with all those offering support. Her daughter “always knew how to be a team player and always wanted those around her to succeed."

Her mother and others hoped Maddie's legacy would be for everyone to do that, to help each other, to live each moment.

Stephanie Potts said was grateful for the 17½ years they had with her.

“Thank you so much from the bottom of our overwhelmed and large hearts," she said.

— dnaylor@providencejournal.com

(401) 277-7411

On Twitter: @donita22