Benjamin Williams '18 Recruiting Profile

I have lived all my life in a small town, with limited access to competitive soccer programs. As a result, and because I desired to improve my skills as a soccer player, I committed to traveling twice a week, from December to May for the last three years, 60 miles each way to join my club team for practice. In addition, I worked on individual skills on my own and participated in a soccer specific weight lifting program on alternate days. Although I have loved soccer since I was five years old, this was the greatest time commitment I had ever made to the sport. Although it was sometimes difficult to balance my academic and athletic pursuits, overall I enjoyed the experience and learned to handle the challenge. I feel that my technical skills and pace of play have improved considerably over the past season, and expect to continue to improve as a player by maintaining this greater commitment level.

Over the past two years, I have played for five different coaches between my high school and club teams. As a freshman (fall 2014) at Macomb High School, I started on the junior varsity playing holding midfield in a 4-2-3-1, and moved up to varsity halfway through the season. I started varsity my entire sophomore season (fall 2015), again at holding midfield in a 4-2-3-1 under another new coach. At the end of that season I was elected to be the captain of the fall 2016 varsity team by my teammates. These quick changes in coaching helped me to learn to adapt to different playing styles and strategies and forced me to become very flexible as a player. I have played club soccer with Quincy United for the last two springs. In 2015, I played on a U15 team, and in 2016 I played on a U16 college prep team. Both teams had different coaches and players from three other high schools. There, I played midfield in a 4-4-2 and wing back as well as midfield in a 4-2-3-1. This variety increased my ability to adapt to new positions and new playing styles from not only coaches, but players as well.

In addition to soccer, I was the number one singles and doubles player this season (spring 2016) on my high school’s varsity tennis team. I received the Most Valuable Player award this season (2016), and the Hustle award the previous season (2015). Although I don’t participate competitively, I also enjoy playing basketball and running cross country. Outside of organized sports, I stay active by participating in many outdoor activities, including hiking, backpacking, rock climbing, and SCUBA diving. These hobbies have taught me that my mental toughness and perseverance allow me to accomplish more physically than I first expect. Finally, I love to read and have a passion for learning new things.

I believe all of these experiences and attributes will help me be a successful college soccer player. I know that I can be committed to a physical and time intensive program that involves training with and without the ball at my feet. I am also very interested in learning and have a strong will to accomplish more. Moreover, I am confident in my ability to adapt my skill set to benefit any program’s coach and players.