Avery Langford '25 Recruiting Profile

     In the interest of full disclosure, my plan is and always will be soccer. Academically, my family and I have high expectations for performance. I enjoy school, and I want to study at a reputable college or university with a good culture. However, I enter into college understanding the commitment of time and dedication required to be a successful collegiate soccer player.  Training and playing soccer has been omnipresent in my life since I began travel soccer at age 7.  I have played at the highest levels available to me with MLS Next and ECNL Clubs. This season, I have amassed over 80 saves playing with Alabama Football Club Boys 2007 ECNL team. Last year, I played for Hoover Vestavia MLS Next, and we competed in the playoffs at the Polo Grounds in Palm Springs, CA. I have played soccer all over the East Coast as well as in Dallas and California. I also trained with Birmingham Legion's Academy team this summer. I am very proud of my accomplishments to this point in soccer, but I do not consider these to be my greatest asset. 

      The prompt for this section if the profile states that I should explain what differentiates me from other recruits. I know many other recruits, and I have a lot in common with them. What I possess and am proudest of is my undying love for this kids' game. I have played soccer with the best athletic competitors in my age group and with 50 year old men on poorly lit futsal pitches. I have played on "pitches" that weren't pitches at all. I have played in coed games without a single spectator, and I have played in arenas. What differentiates me from many others I know is that I am grateful for all of it. Every experience I have had with soccer has helped me grow athletically and as a human being. I will never repay the debts I have accrued to this game. 

     Philosophically, I have been trained by a collection of incredible coaches. Specializing at keeper since the age of eight, I am fortunate to have been trained as a "sweeper keeper". My goalkeeping experience has never been one to sit in the goal waiting for action. I believe a keeper is an active defender, and I am not afraid to challenge an attacker as a defender (when prudent, but if I am being honest, I have made a couple of mistakes). The keeper is an active part of the defensive unit and the first attacker. A keeper should possess creative, dynamic distribution skills that widen the field and create attacking opportunities. I have gained substantial knowledge with this, but there is so much left to learn from many more coaches and players. 

     My goals and aspirations are to always be a soccer player, coach, or soccer-adjacent in some manner.  I plan to study physical therapy or athletic training, but I am not rigid in that goal. I understand that there are many life experiences and opportunities available to me, and I am not approaching this or any decision from the perspective of a wise person. I am fully aware that I am still on the less experienced side of this equation, and I am eager to learn from coaches and peers who have the diverse knowledge sets that I have yet to encounter.