Mason Tyree '28 Recruiting Profile

Mason Tyree

Throughout almost all of my life, about every important decision I've made has been influenced by my father, such as how often I train, study, or how I behave. When I was around 5 years old, I became interested in soccer when my father introduced me to it. I started playing recreational soccer in Long County, GA, at that age and I remember having a great season where the only game we lost was the only game I didn't go to. Since then, I've played seasons of basketball and football which even though I wasn't that good at the time, I still tried my best to play in. I still choose soccer over those sports because I love being able to constantly run nonstop for a long period of time and I enjoy the challenge of needing to be technically skilled with my feet over using my hands. This is because it is harder to learn to control your lower body which comes with a lot more force and strength that your hands don't need as much control. While playing soccer, I can say that a big lesson I've learned is learning when you need to speed things up by slowing down. When I studied a lot on Japan, I came across a word that gives another meaning to this which is "ichigyo-zammai" which tells you that instead of trying to multitask to get multiple projects done at the same time, focus on one project so that you'll have full concentration on one singular topic that will make you work faster on that one so that you can be able to get the next one done until you're finished with them all. This relates to how I play when I slow down, I start making defenders get out of position to create space faster than just running at them. In my academics in both high school and college, I want to keep myself around a 3.5 to 4.0 GPA because I hate seeing low grades for myself. I feel that a big obstacle I had to overcome in soccer that many other players are also affected by is learning to trust your team even if you've never seen them play good, you have to trust that they can play their position and you don't need to play multiple positions. I consider myself a big team player, because in order to help myself, I have to help the team because it's impossible to be a one-man show in a team game. During my 8th grade year of soccer, my goalie got his finger dislocated in the very first game, since nobody else could play the position, I played it for the whole season until the championship which we lost because they got a penalty in the game which sent us to a penalty shootout where we lost. At the end of that season, I got the MVP award for taking over the position and playing well in it. Lastly, as both a leader and a player, focusing on discipline to keep everybody working well and respect for my teammates, coaches, and opponents will keep us together as a great team that can work well.