Alex Hansen '19 Recruiting Profile

I started playing rec soccer when I was 5 when my dad was the coach. It wasn't until I was 13, when I was in 8th grade, that I began to play competitively, joining the Bulls Soccer Club in Aiken, SC. I really began to get good when I moved to Irmo and started playing for SC United. My first season playing school soccer was in 2017, with the Irmo Junior Varsity team. I joined the Cross Country that summer, and I saw a dramatic improvement at the start of tryouts for the 2018 season as a result of running in the fall. However, the thought of playing college soccer hadn't even crossed my mind until the start of the 2018-19 school year. By December, almost all of my focus college-wise had shifted to finding an opportunity to play in college. 

I have finished second in five club tournaments (2 this season with club) and third in 2 other tournaments. Our club team this season finished 3rd in our open league this season, and we were undefeated in all competitions until the Carolina Cup Final on Oct 7, losing 2-3. I have played on a different specific team every year I have played club, and in the past two seasons I have only played with 2 certain teammates more than once, so chemistry has been a bit of a struggle for me during club.

I have a high improvement rate, both my Cross Country coach, Jeremy Lewis, and club soccer coach, Brandon Nichols have been impressed they were about how much I have improved since 2017. I have a powerful shot, which has decent accuracy. My passing is deadly, I can do a few skill moves pretty handily, and my work rate is super high. I do struggle with consistency, and I don't have a lot of sprint speed, but I always look to find a teammate who can make runs and get in behind the defense.

Outside of soccer, I am a lifeguard at my local pool. I volunteer for Salkehatchie Summer Service every summer in June, which lasts 1 week. I am in the National Honor Society at Irmo High School, and I was nominated for Palmetto Boy's State, but I chose not to go.