Pierre-Etienne Courrier '20 Recruiting Profile

Soccer is not just a game, it is not just 22 players going against each other for 90 minutes, it is not just a bench full of players and a coaching staff, it is not just fans counted by tens, hundreds, thousands or even millions in some cases, but to me, it is a force that includes all of these and gives the power to a captain to guide his players on an adventure while representing the colors and the personality of a whole community.  Soccer is a tradition, a culture and has the capability of uniting men and women around the world who are different in all aspects of life.

   It is more than a game, it is a translation of life and its stages that each player has to master and live passionately as a team. It proves that each talent, skill, potential and contribution of every single player, coach and fan plays a role for a greater purpose of finding perfect harmony between each individual on the field in order to inspire the world to follow their lead of peace and competitiveness to achieve greater things in life.

I had the luck to be introduced to soccer at the young age of 3 in an Eastern European nation called Hungary.  I played 7 years of club there and learned the foundations of the sport in a different way than any other player in Western Europe, Asia or America would have. Now that I look back on my experience, I see the power I was driven by and it was fueled by the community who gave me the possibility to grow as a player.

After that, I traveled back to my home country,  that is France. I did not play club for the following 5 years as I decided to experience different sports as well that would help me grow as a multi-facet athlete. I kept on playing however in a less competitive level at my school with friends. And I have learned that I was sharing the same passion as many others and I started to experience the french soccer culture inspired by a memorable 1998 national team that led to the strong unification of many different cultural and social groups present in France for the years to follow.

Finally, I moved to Greer South Carolina in 2017 and decided to join my high school in order to put in use what I have learned from past experiences but also see this new and unique style of playing in the United States.  Joining the team my sophomore year of high school, I have to say that I have grown a lot from it as player, but also as a student as well as a person. I saw myself grow as I earned offensive MVP for my school and All-Region honors scoring 6 goals and 4 assists in my first season. It was however the second best thing that happened that year as I earned the respect, admiration and friendship with every single person on my team. During this new season, I was given the responsibility to my lead my team as a captain and I therefore voice myself on the field to help the younger players to find a place and who they are as a person on and off the field.  Even though I am a captain, I believed I learned more from my teammates than they have from me, they taught me many things and inspired me to be the best possible version of myself on and off the field. It is the reason why, that with 5 guaranteed games left in the season I have already bettered my stats from the previous season and hope to bring this team as far as possible in the playoffs.

I believe I am humble player who understands that there is always room for improvement. I have a huge respect for my opponent and do not make a difference if it is a team ranked number one in the nation or last because we are all soccer players with our own strength. I give my all when I am on the field and I love competing against whoever wants to. I would describe my character as the underdog, no one expects my capabilities and most underestimate my potential. I have realized that I am not always the most skilled or talented player on the field and so I compensate with the energy I bring, and I will make sure whoever is better has to work ten times harder than usual to show it.  I have played 3 different style of soccer, in 3 different places in the world, and through it I have found my own voice and my own style. It is what makes me stand out from the mass and gives me my uniqueness and I hope I can keep on expanding it at the next level...