Interview by Jimmy Sheldrup
You were named to the WCC all pre-season team. How does that feel? Definitely an honor to be named by the coaches and my peers. It's a surreal feeling, because growing up, I was thinking about how I would be here today, and now I am.
As a Freshman you were placed on the WCC all-freshman team. As a sophomore, you were an honorable mention for the all WCC teams. Last year, you made second team all WCC. How do you credit your growth as a player? Once I get put on a higher ranked team, I play up to that level. I used to be placed on older teams when I was younger, I would try to train with the older teams. Even going from JV to Varsity, once I was put on a team, I would just kind of excel. I think it has to do with my mentality, when I have that bar to reach, it gives me something to chase. I try to push my boundaries. I’m the type of player who will work extremely hard to push those boundaries, to be the best I can be. It all goes hand in hand though with great coaches, teammates, and my family’s support though.
You have a physical play style, you body people up, but you play within the rules. Where and why did you decide to play soccer in this style? In high school I was an offensive player, and I will admit that I used to be a flopper. But I have grown out of that mentality, because I like to make my own luck. If you are a physical player, you don’t need to flop, because you will get your own luck that way.
For a defensive player, you have shown off ball skills. Did you play other positions growing up? Growing up I was always as an offensive striker, or midfielder. Once I started to transition from rec to club, to eventually high school soccer, I started to play defense more. Mostly in club though, and those coaches ended up being my coaches here at UP. They saw me more as a left-back, which was fine to me because I was getting time on a quality club team. When I got into high school, I went back to being more of an offensive threat. Me and Eddie (Sanchez) were on the same club team, but we were rivals in high school soccer, and we would always have our own competitions against each other, but also when we played together. I think it is important to be able to play both sides of the ball. There’s obviously two sides to the game.
You seem to be something of a soccer paradox, you are skilled, but not flashy. You play physical, but within the rules. It is a different style of play as compared to traditional players. Is this something you notice, and take pride in? Yea I think so, back in the day my go to move was the 1-cut, one inside cut to score, and that was all I needed. I never was a believer in doing more than I needed to do. Obviously I watch the flashy players like Ronaldo, and maybe one day i’ll transition into that. But just keeping it simple, I think that’s been the motto throughout my life. Just playing simple, get the ball, dribble, try to get by them, and score.
Jimmy Sheldrup is a sports reporter for the Beacon. He can be contacted at sheldrup18@up.edu or @cjsheldrup on twitter
