Nick Braun '24 Recruiting Profile

Diligent, focused, hardworking, and enthusiastic are characteristics that describe me in the classroom and on the pitch. My soccer career began ten years ago in Missoula, Montana, at the local YMCA. I was a member of their U6 soccer team I scored an average of four goals per game. In addition to easy goals, that first soccer experience seeded love for the sport and aspiration for playing post-high school.  For a few years after YMCA, I continued to play and grow with various soccer teams in town. However, I credit the next big step in my soccer development with a year abroad in Lugano, Switzerland. There, I tried out for and played with two different high-level Swiss-national feeder academies; playing for these academies sharpened my skills and further fueled my passion for soccer. When I returned to Montana, I resumed play at a small club in Missoula, Strikers FC, where I played up two years (and frequently practiced three years up). Strikers FC is known as one of the best teams in Montana and qualified for regionals in 2019; there, I was the only player on the team to score. After three years at Strikers, I felt ready for more challenges and more time on the pitch than Montana winters allowed. As such, I accepted their invitation and took my career down to Arizona, where I attended Barca Residence Academy, Casa Grade, for the second semester of freshman year. For Barca, I was a regular starting left-back and attacking midfielder. I also attended ASU Prep Academy, continuing my path on academic excellence by finishing out my freshman year with a 4.0 while taking three honors classes and an AP. At the end of my freshman year, I was awarded a "Student Excellence Award." My soccer career continues at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida, where I am working in pre-season to play with the MLS-Next U17 team. I look forward to continued growth as an athlete and scholar and the experiences yet to come.