30 | JULY 13 • 2023

M

ori Miller is going
back to where it all
started.
The two-time All-State
midfielder on the Birmingham
Groves High School boys soccer
team will continue his soccer
career on the collegiate level
this fall at Pomona-Pitzer in
California, a Division III team
that’s a co-op with Pomona and
Pitzer colleges.
Miller, 18, was born in Santa
Monica, California, and lived
there for two years before his
family moved first to Houston
and then to Birmingham in
2014.

He’s the son of Mark Miller,
senior rabbi at Temple Beth El in
Bloomfield Township since 2014.
Mori Miller was recruited by
Division III and NAIA colleges.
Going out of state for college was
important to him.
“I wanted to go someplace
new and explore the area,
” he
said.
His parents supported his
decision.
They both went to out-
of-state colleges. His father
grew up in Denver and went
to Northwestern, and his
mother, Rachel Ann, a part-
time accountant, grew up

in California and went to
Washington State.
Soccer is in Mori Miller’s
blood.
His mother signed to play
Division I soccer at Washington
State, but her soccer career
ended when she hurt her knee
before her freshman season.
Cam Gale, Miller’s first cousin
(He’s Mark Miller’s sister’s
son), was named Mr. Soccer in
Colorado a few years ago when
he was in high school.
Gale didn’t play soccer in
college, opting to focus on his
studies, “but he
helped me through
the recruiting
process,
” Mori Miller
said.
Miller’s brother
Abe, 17, who will be a
senior at Birmingham
Seaholm High School
this fall, also is a good
athlete.
He plays football
and boys basketball
for the Maples, and will be a
co-captain on the Seaholm
basketball team next season.
Mori Miller had 12 goals and
nine assists while serving as a
co-captain for the Groves boys
soccer team last fall.
He had even more impressive
statistics while playing at the
same time for the Groves
football team, which make a
surprising run to the regional
round of the Division 2 state
playoffs.
Miller was the football team’s
placekicker. He was 31-for-33 on
extra points and made his lone
field goal attempt. Nine of his
kickoffs went into the end zone
for touchbacks.
That’s not bad for someone
who had never been a place-
kicker until his junior year at
Groves.
“I worked a lot with the
football team’s kicking coach,
”

Miller said. “Doing the two
sports in the same season made
for some long days, but I enjoyed
it. On most days, I went to
soccer practice, changed in the
locker room after practice, and
went to football practice.
”
Besides placekicking, Miller
got into the action on the
gridiron a couple times. The
5-foot-9, 155-pounder assisted
on a few tackles on kickoffs and
got tackled himself when a snap
rolled to him on an extra point.
The biggest adjustment Miller
had to make between the two
sports was getting used
to the pace of the game
for a football kicker.
“In soccer, I’m on
the field all the time,
locked in and focused,
”
he said. “In football, I
was standing around a
lot, waiting to get into
the game.
”
Miller played a third
sport at Groves. He
was on the boys golf
team as a junior and senior.
Miller first found out about
the Pomona-Pitzer men’s soccer
team from his mother, who grew
up in Redondo Beach.
After a family visit to the
campuses in California, Miller
sent an email to Mike Ditta, then
the associate coach and now the
interim coach of the Pomona-
Pitzer men’s soccer team.
“College soccer coaches get a
lot of emails,
” Ditta said. “I was
impressed with Mori’s email and
decided to give him a call.
”
That call began a string of
emails and calls between Ditta
and Miller, and a Zoom call with
the coach and Miller’s parents
last summer.
Ditta did more recruiting
work.
“I got some game video
of Mori and talked to his
soccer coaches (Groves coach
Paul Thomas and United FC

SPORTS

Birmingham Groves All-State boys
soccer player Mori Miller, son of a
rabbi, heads West to play college
soccer.

California-Bound

STEVE STEIN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

REZ SAZGARI

Mori Miller takes
a shot during a
game against
Detroit Country
Day last season.

Mori Miller