Sam Rodts gained an inch in height Monday after the Niles boys soccer district tournament match against Lakeshore.

Sam thought he was 6-foot-5. His older brother Danny corrected him.

“He’s 6-6 and I’m 6-7,” said Danny, who is a 2007 Niles High School graduate.

Sam agreed.

The two brothers have come a long ways in their relationship since playing backyard soccer against each other.

“We clashed playing backyard soccer,” Danny said. “Every warm day we played outside. He would go in crying because I’d knock him down and do something to him.

“I’m a competitive person and it made him more competitive and made him a better soccer player.”

This past August, Danny and Sam went from enemies on a soccer field to allies as Danny was hired to become the Niles boys soccer coach.

The move pleased Sam, who would be entering his fourth-year starting on the Niles boys soccer team.

“I was excited for this upcoming season,” said Sam. “I knew I had a strong coach that would make sure the team and I would have a successful year and turn the program around.

“We’re both very competitive and we’re active people. We both like to motivate people. He’s older so he’s a little bit wiser.”

Sam has flourished under his new coach and the program has improved. The highlights of the season have been two wins over Lakeshore, including a 3-2 Division II opening round district win on Tuesday. Before this year, it had been eight years since the Vikings beat the Lancers.

Sam leads the team in goals with 16 and he’s second on the team in assists with seven.

Niles scored the last three goals in Monday’s match against Lakeshore with Sam’s first half goal starting the comeback.

“He’s a very well-rounded player,” Danny said about his brother. “He makes himself a tough matchup on a nightly basis because of his height. He also has great vision on the field and provides great leadership.

“It makes me proud as an older brother that he’s providing so much to our team.”

Sam was proud of what his brother did the day before playing Lakeshore to help prepare the team for the match.

“We had a four and a half hour practice,” Sam said. “He made sure that we went over a lot of stuff and I think it really helped us prepare for the Lakeshore game.

“He’s come up with a lot of ideas this year that have made us better.”

Some of thoses ideas were exchanged between the two brothers outside of practices and games.

“A lot of times after games the game comes back home to me,” Sam said. “When I go home I get to hear it from my brother and we talk about what I need to work on and what I did well. We bounce ideas off each other. It helps because we come up with better ideas.”

Sam, who is looking to continue his soccer career in college, will miss not having his brother on the sidelines.

“Overall, it’s been a great experience and I’m happy about going through it,” Sam said.

Danny said that he wanted to treat his brother like everyone else on the team.

“I know what his goals are in life and what his goals are with soccer,” Danny said. “I strive to make those my same goals and help him grab those goals.

“This whole experience has been great. I’m glad that we got to do this for a season.”