Braden Bauwens '25 Recruiting Profile

Hard work and the value of perseverance was introduced to me at a very young age.  I was 7 when my father started his own business at farming avocados and I witnessed firsthand all the trials and tribulations we as a family had to endure.  For the next 8 years, despite all the hardship, the pain, and loss my father and our family endured in the beginning, he stuck with it and as we all supported the business over the years, he was able to build something special.  This work ethic and the value of seeing things through with hard work, lessons learned through trial and error, and overall tenacity toward a goal stuck with me and has tremendously helped me in my journey in soccer and academics.

I began playing soccer at the age of 4.  I played other sports too, such as baseball and football.  Over the next several years, my interest waned in baseball and football, but each year I played soccer, the more I loved it.

I didn’t start off my soccer journey as the best or most talented.  Even for the first five years of playing soccer, I never took it too seriously. The love for the game grew each year I played, but my true understanding of what the game meant to me and what it took to be a better player and teammate didn’t come until later. It wasn’t until I was between 9-10 years old where something clicked, the fire and passion for the game began to grow and merge with my value of hard work, it merged with my willingness to ditch the fear of failing and to take the risks necessary to err and grow in my game.  But most of all, it was my dedication, my commitment and perseverance in understanding that hard work was the only path for me in becoming better and setting the goal to be the best soccer player and teammate I could be and not settling for anything less.

Once I came to this realization, my game began to transform.  I was picked to join a National Team, I then progressed through club soccer, and am currently playing at one of the higher levels in my league.  My first year in High School, I was picked as the defensive MVP.  I was always willing to play any position, but I truly came in to my own when I began consistently playing center back.  I am a communicator and vocal leader; I can see the game from many different angles and love being that defender that helps lead the back line.  The feedback I consistently get from my coaches that I am most proud of is that I am the most coachable, the most reliable, the most consistent, the hardest worker and will do the dirty work necessary to win the game.  Even though I may not jump out at you on the stat sheet with goals or assists, I am that player you need on your championship team to build a culture of hard work, heart, and humility and to play the game with the highest motor and commitment toward being the best.  

I approached my academics the same way.  I have always viewed my academics as one of my top priorities.  I am enrolled in honor’s classes and with all the soccer I commit to during the week, it’s not easy.  But no one had to tell me to do my homework, to study, or to stay up past my bedtime throughout each week to make sure all my schoolwork was not just done butcompleted at an excellent standard.  I did that on my own.  And as a result, my freshman year I was given the Principal’s Scholar Athlete Award by maintaining a 4.0 or higher GPA.  I am also passionate about my Christian faith.  I went to a private Christian middle school, and I am most proud of being awarded the highest acknowledgement for my faith-I was awarded with “The Most Courageous Christian Award” my eighth grade year.

 I humbly play the game I love because it gives me a sense of purpose, it has been a platform for me to grow and thrive, and it has been a proving ground to act out the values that I grew up with and to see them pay off.  I look forward to applying all the lessons I’ve learned and the values I hold dear in continuing to develop as a player, a teammate, and student and can’t wait to see where it leads me collegiately and beyond!