How did your recent tournament go? 

The tournament went really well. Unfortunately, we lost in the quarterfinal, but I was lucky enough to score three goals. I think we kind of got unlucky a little bit; the games were shortened, so they were 16-minute games. With 16-minute games, if you go down it’s really hard to score again and the team just  has to sit back and defend. So overall I thought we did well for what we were given. 

How does the Indy Eleven Academy compare to other teams in your league? 

Right now we’re ranked second in our league, so I think we did pretty well in the fall. Most of our games were wins, but we had a couple of ties, so I think maximizing that wins and ties is really what ‘s going to get you ahead of other teams and make sure you don’t get scored on. 

How big is the league you’re in?

Recently we just actually split the league, so it was 15 teams and now it’s eight teams. The whole league is called MLS Next, and that is across the entire country, and then there are like mini subdivisions. Ours is called the Mid-America league, and then there’s a Florida league, there’s a Texas and whatnot. So it goes all across the state and all across the country. 

Did playing soccer influence your decision to graduate a semester early? 

Definitely. I was grateful to be given the opportunity to train with the Indy Eleven professional teams, so that’s one of the reasons why I graduated early. 

Do you have any plans to play soccer in college? 

 I do have plans to play soccer in college. Hopefully, I’ll be committing to a school soon. 

How big of a time commitment would you say the academy is? 

I would say, just with the academy, I probably commit, including games on the weekends, like 20-plus hours a week. 

How do you train for games with the academy? 

We train four days a week. We train Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday from 6 to 7:30 (p.m.) and then on my own I lift probably about three times a week, which helps to just get me prepared for the games on the weekends. 

What are some of your favorite memories from being in the academy? 

My favorite memories are probably team trips. It was really fun last year when we went to the MLS Next playoffs. We made it to the second round but lost to Toronto. Hopefully we’re going to go there again this year and kind of take the next step forward. 

What motivates you to continue to play soccer? 

I think just like winning, winning games and winning competitions and knowing that it’s a team sport. You’re not just playing for yourself, you’re playing for the people around you and you want to see their enjoyment as well. That helps you keep going forward.