Joseph Brandel '16 Recruiting Profile

Playing college soccer has been my dream since I started playing the sport competitively. I have played soccer since I was 5 years old. I sparked an interest in it from a young age, and ever since, my life has been revolved around seeing how far I could push my abilities. There is never a dull moment when playing the game and I love excelling in a sport I love. The things I am most proud of, so far, are my accomplishments in high school soccer. As a freshman, I made the varsity team. This team was ranked as one of the top 10 in the state and making that high level team was a large accomplishment in my freshman year. Our 2012 team proceeded to finish with a 13-3-1 record and make the section finals.  Our section is made up of schools 2 and even 3 times the size of St. Louis Park so finishing the year on that note was great. Sophomore year it was the same stakes. St. Louis Park was top 5 in the state. This year (2013) our team was the conference champion and finished with a very similar record. My junior year of high school soccer has been the largest highlight yet. I was voted to be a junior captain and from this I learned leadership skills that helped me enormously as a player. This year (2014) we made the section finals again, had a very good winning record, and I received the All-Conference award. Although a smaller school, St. Louis Park has played along side large schools successfully for a very long time. I attribute this to our experienced head coach, William "Chato" Alvarado, who has coached for Park for a very long time. Chato is a very experienced player and coach, who has played professionally in Costa Rica and coaches for the Minnesota Olympic Development Program and is a part of the Minnesota Youth Soccer Association in addition to coaching at Park. Because of this I hold his compliments towards me in the highest regards. He has told me that he thinks I "am one of the best defenders in the state" and he "would bet against any high schooler who would try to pass me." For me, this means so much because I look up to him as a role model. I believe I still have much more to learn and I can keep pushing myself to being a better player and leader. For me soccer is more than just a game. I find joy and happiness in it every time I play.