Kai Morales '24 Recruiting Profile

For as long as I can remember, I have been a soccer player. I started with recreational soccer at about the age of seven and was quickly recruited to play on higher-level club teams. My family moved to Tokyo the summer before my 8th grade year for my father's assignment to the US Embassy in Tokyo. This ended my club soccer career, but I began playing for the American School in Japan beginning that fall. The pandemic hit the winter of my freshman year, essentially ending my freshman soccer season as soon as it had begun. I made the varsity track team in my sophomore year, and over this time I felt myself beginning to drifting away from soccer. We moved back to the United States just before my junior year at W.T. Woodson High School in Fairfax, VA.  As we prepared to depart Tokyo, I began to re-connect with my neighborhood buddies--they were by now all on the varsity football team at Woodson. Once they knew I was headed home, they began actively recruiting me to be the team's kicker. Convinced, I turned out for summer camp as soon as we arrived back in the States. After kicking my first field goal, I was hooked! 

Since then I have improved drastically and can now consistently hit field goals from 45 yards and easily hit precise "pooch" kickoffs to the "30" every time. I attribute my rapid development to my soccer upbringing, my focus on learning from past mistakes, and my ability to quickly absorb a high volume of information. 

I believe these same attributes have benefited me academically as well. As I'm currently taking 4 Advanced Placement (AP) classes in my Junior year following my successful AP World History campaign in my sophomore year where I scored a 5 on the College Board AP exam. Beyond sports and academics, I also founded the American School in Japan's Aerospace Club, became a member of National Honors Society, and am learning how to balance school and sports. In the future, I plan to take the skills I've learned through sports, extra curricular activities, and academics and apply them to studying political science at the university level while also having the opportunity to play the sport I love.