Can you describe the awards you won?

I got the player of the state (Indiana Soccer Coaches Association Player of the Year), which is just what the coaches voted on as the best player in the state for High School Men’s Soccer. Then I got the All-American (Fall High School All-Americans) which is like a similar award, but it’s a nationally recognized award, the same thing as it’s voted on by the coaches. 

What was your initial reaction when you found out you were named Indiana Soccer Coaches Association Player of the Year?

I was honestly pretty surprised. I know we had a good season as a team and all that. But personally, I didn’t realize how much the coaches thought of me, because I knew there are a lot of other really good players out there. There’s a good player in Brownsburg, Evansville, all these great players, so I was super surprised, but super honored and excited in the moment. 

What does this award mean to you personally, especially representing Carmel High School?

This award means a lot. I think it’s cool that when I go visit the high school now there’ll be a picture of me in that hallway that I always walk up on when I come off on this trail. So seeing that will be super memorable, especially if I have kids that end up going to Carmel, just being able to look back and be like, “man, I did that back in the day.” It’s also cool just to be able to represent your high school in a high manner and get an award that’s pretty prestigious.

After being limited to just one varsity season due to injury, what kept you motivated to keep pushing forward?

I think the ultimate goal, in mind of winning the State Championship, had me motivated. I know that Carmel hadn’t done it in a long time, but I knew coming into the year after I got healthy and got my body right, that we had the talent on the team. We have a ton of good players that I’ve actually played with for a long time, like (senior) Sakeeth (Tadikonda) and (senior) Xander (Dora), all those guys. So having them by my side and playing alongside a lot of talented guys, I was confident that we had the ability to win. As long as I got healthy and I got on the same page as my teammates, I knew we could accomplish something big. So that kind of helped me stay motivated throughout my injury, knowing to look into the future, seeing what we could potentially accomplish, sounds great.

Can you talk more about your injury?

So junior year, I tore my ACL during club season, and that had me out for about a year. At the time, obviously, it’s super devastating, but I think through that, I was able to learn about myself and about my game. I think ultimately it was a positive thing, and it helped me become a better player, just appreciate more of the time that I did spend on the field.

How did the injury change your perspective on the game and your role as a midfielder?

My injury changed my mindset a little bit in terms of, maximizing my time on the field, like you only get so many plays and nothing’s guaranteed. So really, just appreciate every moment, but understand the importance of every moment, and that every play, every pass, every minute on the field is significant and it can lead to team success. So just understanding that and then taking full advantage of that. 

What do you think made this Carmel team special enough to win a State Championship?

 Something that made us special was just our team camaraderie. These guys, we’ve known each other for a long time, so we know how each other plays. We know how each other acts, so just that teamwork and understanding of one another helped us play as a unit. No one overstepped. Everyone was pretty level-headed. No one had too much an ego. I think that separated us, because there’s been years where Carmel had tons of talent, but with that comes egos, a lot of different, clashing personalities, but just in terms of our personality and the characters of our team, we all really fit well together, and we’re able to play as a team and not just for ourselves. 

What lessons did soccer teach you this season that you’ll carry beyond high school?

One of the main things that soccer has taught me is just communication, showing up every day, being clear with your communication. Your communication with your teammates as well as your coaches. So I think that translates well into a workplace when you’re communicating to your bosses and your coworkers, just being clear about your boundaries, your goals, and just getting on the same page with them, and that helps you be when you begin to execute, be confident in what you do. 

Another takeaway I had from my soccer season was just hard work, putting your head down and working, but being intentional with it. Leading up to this season my teammates and I would go to the field, when we didn’t have organized sessions we would just play, we would do drills.

What advice would you give to younger athletes dealing with injuries or setbacks?

I think my advice or my guidance in terms of injury is just to enjoy the moment. Like the sport isn’t going to last forever in your life, nor will the injuries. Obviously, it sucks to be out. You want to be playing. You’re watching all your teammates, but see what you can do to learn from it. Embrace it. See the good in it. It’s not great to be out, you feel like you’re missing on reps, but do what you can do to get better. And then, ultimately, I think it’ll give you some perspective once it’s all over. 

What was your favorite moment from the state championship run?

I think my favorite moment was the bus rides to and from games. It was a pretty special time. I remember going there, our coach always read us speeches from players from previous years, trying to hype us up, get us motivated. And everyone on the bus was pretty tense. So there’s a lot going on for every game. So every bus ride there was tense. 

People were a little bit nervous. I was definitely nervous, but we’re also confident in our abilities. But then on the way home, after we kept winning, there’s fun, there’s hype, music, the boys are all just enjoying themselves, good vibes. 

Do you have any traditions you do before a game, individually and as a team?

Our coach will read us the speeches which he would do every time before games. Maybe a superstition of his, I don’t know, but it worked. It’s pretty fun to hear people’s insight on what they like, what they thought they did wrong, what they lost.

Personally, I like passing the ball with the same person before games. I like to skip onto the field or I’ll tap my feet in a pattern during the national anthem.

If you could describe this season in one word, what would it be—and why?

Special. I think it was the experiences that we had which were special, very unique. Not every high school soccer player or high school athlete gets to experience this type of success. Also just this team making it so far in the tournament, in terms of that, that was special. Then also just the people that I was surrounded with, coaches, players, trainers, parents, everyone just made the journey so awesome and special.