- 2020 Highlights
Personal Statement
I’m Ethan Gartner, also known as #4 (in Geneva) or now #21 (ECNL Mclean) on the field. I was born in Bangkok, Thailand, in 2003, where my family was posted with the U.S. Government. I have played competitive soccer for the majority of my life. I have lived primarily overseas: specifically in Thailand, Singapore, Japan, and Switzerland. However, I consider home base to be McLean, Virginia, and I am American. I am a junior at Langley High School. I view soccer as a way to relieve my stress and enhance my leadership capabilities. I pride myself on uniting my teammates and boosting their self confidence. Soccer demonstrates the loyalty I have to my team, my relentless spirit, and my determination to always better myself. Soccer completes me and serves as my outlet.
At only four years old, I began my soccer journey as a striker. Unlike others, I am ambidextrous and enjoy switching it up on the field. When I was a Freshman in High School in Geneva Switzerland, I played on Junior Varsity and received The Rising Star Award, signifying my athletic ability regarding both soccer and running. As a sophomore, I played on the Varsity team and as a starting center midfielder. Our team was granted the opportunity to play soccer in Eindhoven, Netherlands and we won first place in the ISAA tournament in 2019. During this tournament, I was awarded MVP of my team. While in Switzerland, I also played for FC Versoix in the Geneva Canton. We were coached in French, so I was able to utilize my limited french speaking skills to understand instruction (and my teammates helped me with translation at times)!
I have attended a variety of ID soccer camps over the last five years, including: McLean ID camps, Frostburg ID camps, and UVA’s ID soccer camp. I loved focusing on improving my soccer skills and establishing new friendships among initial strangers. I grew a lot as a player and succeeded when faced with the challenge of working with brand new teams. I believe teamwork is a fundamental requirement for succeeding in soccer. Without your team, it is impossible to maintain victories.
In the summer of 2020, I moved back to McLean, Virginia, and I am playing for the ECNL Mclean team. Hoping that high school sports resume in the Spring, I plan on playing for the varsity Langley High School team. In past years, I played for Mclean’s CCL team and was coached by Alan Portillo, who I am very lucky to have now as my ECNL Mclean coach; Ken Krieger and Todd West. It is great playing with my old teammates and witnessing how we have all grown as players.Here’s to many more years on the soccer pitch!
