Nicholas Cheesman '12 Recruiting Profile

My name is Nicholas Cheesman, I go by Nick most of the time but my coaches and closest friends call me Cheez. I am in my Senior year at Livingston HS in Northern New Jersey and was elected as one of 3 Captains of our Varsity team by my peers. Soccer is something I have been playing since I could walk and it's been a big part of my life.  I have been on on travel club teams since 9 years old and have strengthened my knowledge and skills by attending college camps over the summers. In the offseason I work on my speed and agility training through training programs in my area. For the past couple of years I have been working with a personal trainer to achieve my goals in strength and conditioning. Working with him I have gained tremendous confidence in my phyiscal self as well as my athletic abilities. Over the winters a group of my teammates and myself participate in a boot camp training and keep up with soccer by playing in an indoor High School league. As a Freshman I was also elected by my peers as Captain of the team and then Sophomore year I made the Varsity team and  saw some starting time in about 5 games and played in over half of the games during the season.  Our team won the conference for the first time in 12 years and we made it to the sectional finals in the state tournament. With my birthday being in August, I am a young senior and currently I play on an age appropriate club team but I have played on teams that were one and two age levels above. Playing in higher ages groups allowed me to compete against kids that are older and physically stronger which I believe prepared me to be a Varsity player as a sophomore. As a Junior I started in approximately 9 games as left back and moved into the center midfield position as necessary. My team also won the Conference for the 2nd year in a row.  I enjoy the fitness portion of the training just as much as the skill portion because I like to keep myself fit and healthy.   I am the oldest of 4 children and one of three boys. My brothers are Ryan who is 15, Christopher who is 6 and my sister Natalie is 8. Since both my parents work I am able to help them out with watching my little brother and sister when necessary. I also like to teach them to play soccer and basketball, it's nice having them look up to me, as the first child I didn't have that and I think it's important for them.  I have participated in some leadership groups over the years, in town we have a Peer Leader group that I participated in for about 4 years, and then in 7th grade I was nominated to attend a National Youth Leadership Conference both overseas and here in the US. I chose a 4-day conference here in NJ and had a great time. January 2009 I attended the another conference for NYLC in Washington DC to see the inauguration of President Obama. I enjoy the leadership conferences but haven't been able to attend since 2009 because of my studies and my commitment to my sports.  I am looking forward to going away to school, and getting involved on campus especially by playing soccer.