Garrett Shanley '18 Recruiting Profile

Ever since I was four years old I have been playing the game of soccer.  My parents signed me up for a community recreation team as they knew how much I loved to run and play with others.  It was an immediate match, I loved the game, and since then I have been rarely seen without my soccer ball. A few years later my recreation coaches suggested to my parents that they sign me up for a competitive league.  Over the years, with the guidance of great coaches and support from my parents I have become the player that I am today. I am a player that is dedicated to my team and teammates on and off the field.  I arrive early and stay late to work on my personal skills and when at practice I’m giving 110% to building my team and personal skills on the field.

The ultimate goal in soccer is to be the winning team at the State Tournament, in July of 2014 my competitive team earned our way to that game.  It was the final game and we were playing for first place. We were tied during the first half, and later in the second half up by one until the last 2 minutes. As our team was burning time, the other team scored. The game went into a shootout where we lost. As a player, yes I was so disappointed but as a captain I was very proud of my team and how we never gave up, worked hard, and even more importantly came back the following year with an even a bigger goal. As a captain I reminded my teammates that even though we did not produce the end result that we had hoped for, we did come a long way throughout the season. After that I loss I reflected to see what could of I done differently or how could I be a better player.  At the time I was on the smaller side physically.  I decided to start there and look for a way to get myself physically stronger. I decided to join my schools Olympic Style Weight Lifting team.  My goal was to improve my strength of my entire body but especially my leg strength.  It has definitely worked as my coaches and teammates have noticed my change in strength. 

As I reflect back on my soccer journey, I realize that playing soccer has taught me leadership skills, how to apply myself to a goal and work with others to achieve a shared goal. Being a captain of my teams has helped me become the leader that I am today both on and off the field. I believe that it has taught me the skills I’ll need to persevere in my future goals. From school to work I will use these to be a successful person. For that, I am thankful for my parents, and coaches for sharing my goal and helping me be the person that I am today.