Liam Venia '23 Recruiting Profile

Soccer has been something that has been an important part of my life for as long as I can remember. There was a park with a few small fields near where I was living, and my parents signed me up for a rec team that practiced at the park. Ever since that first practice, I have been constantly playing and thinking about soccer, and it was a focal point throughout my grade school and now my high school years.

I was challenged with an unknown obstacle in the winter of my 6th grade that caused me to go through many struggles and ultimately strengthen my love for the game. I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes, which is a condition in which the pancreas no longer supplies insulin for your body and this can cause your blood sugar to run high or low in different situations. Being so young and having such a great responsibility thrown on my shoulders has been a blessing in disguise, however, because diabetes has helped me grow and become a better person. It helped me gain personal responsibility from taking care of myself and helped me gain self-respect and comfort with who I am and whom I was becoming.

On the field, I am a hard worker who wants to learn from his coaches and become better after every workout and every practice. I always give it 100 percent and during the off-season am constantly lifting and training to better my mind and body and become a better athlete. I am a team player and a team leader on and off the field, leading by example by giving everything to win the game but humble in victory and defeat. This effort and dedication are not only on the field but in the classroom.

Academics are very important to me and I strive to challenge myself and become the best I can be. I was selected to be in the honors program at my high school, was only includes about 20 students from my grade. Along with being in the honors program, I take all honors and AP classes to fully challenge myself and got a 3.9 GPA during my sophomore year. I want to look for a school that will be the best fit for me both academically and athletically, and because of this, I am willing to look at any options to find where I will be the best.