Ryan Malekian '19 Recruiting Profile

I would like to attend a top academic school with a great soccer program where I can grow as a person and player, become a leader and win a championship.

I love playing soccer.  I have been lucky to play on very good club and high school teams and that won two Virginia state championships but also lost in a state final and two state semi-finals.  Three seasons ago my club team went undefeated in the first division of the National Capital Soccer League.  As the season went on and the pressure of staying undefeated built, it took a whole team effort and a keen focus on our unspoken objective of staying undefeated to accomplish this. 

I also play soccer for Langley High School in McLean, VA where we won the Virginia state high school championship last year.  Defending our title will be hard this year with six starting seniors graduating last year, including three who play D1 college soccer.  But, it will be a fun challenge.  I have been a scholar athlete every year in high school.

Soccer has given me the thrill of winning as a team and the excruciating pain of losing but staying hungry and getting back up.  It has taught me humility in both success and failure.  I have learned that I can do more in a team setting than I ever could on my own.  I have also learned to be a good team mate, especially during difficult times.

My hero is my little sister who has life-threatening food allergies.  I have experienced some but not all of her trials.  My family avoids certain foods she is allergic to and we don’t eat-out as much as we used to in order to protect her.  Because of her allergies, she simply can’t do many things that I take for granted such as eating popcorn at the movies or going to the ice cream shop without worrying about cross contamination.     Her allergies became our allergies and have made our family closer. 

Besides soccer, I love the outdoors, particularly fishing and skiing.  For bass fishing I recommend the upper Potomac river (above the Great Falls in VA) where the small mouths know me by first name.  But, I mostly enjoy inshore fishing in Georgetown, SC and Merit Island, FL with my family during summer vacations.  I have skied since I was 4, mostly on the east coast, with a memorable spring break trip to Park City five years ago with my dad.  

During my summer breaks, since I was 5 years old, I have attended a number of Fairfax County (VA) Park Authority Nature Camps.  These include fishing, primitive living and other outdoor/environment camps.  During the past two summer I volunteered as a Camp Counselor in Training for eight weeks and went through the county’s training program. 

I am a decent point guard but a much better midfielder and forward.  Thank you for reading my note.