Deniz Gode '24 Recruiting Profile

I am currently a 16 year old Sophomore at Minuteman Tech. I grew up in Arlington Massachusetts, and have been playing soccer since the first grade. I found my calling to play defensive back around 5th grade and have been playing defensive positions ever since. I picked up basketball in the 8th grade to play in the winter and currently planning to play Club Soccer in the spring and summer. Going to Minuteman was an academic choice as the school has amazing CTE programs, in which I am pursuing Biotech as a career. Athletics aren't great at the school admittedly, and we came off a 1:13 season my first year back, however that has not stopped me from playing soccer at the school and hopefully at the club level. Growing up in Arlington, you had to play a sport. I picked out soccer and have loved it ever since. I experienced a huge "learning curve" in which I felt an exponential growth in my skill and change in my playset. When I played for the Arlington Soccer Club, I started all games and played all 4 quarters pre COVID and I never have felt so confident in any aspect of my life then I did in soccer. 

Contrary to what my TAP says about me, I prefer harsh coaching that irons out mistakes and I am more than capable of controlling frustration and anger and use it to my advantage during games. I believe the saying "Iron sharpens Iron" to be 100% true for me.

As a player, I can be physical and imposing on the opposing forward players. I am not afraid of injury and willing to take risks in order to prevent the ball from going in the net. I believe my core skill comes from experience. Playing soccer for so long has taught me so much. Every failure, every mistake brought me to the player I am today. Once I made a mistake and had a moment I looked back at the play and told myself "never again." 

However, I have much to learn and I am always trying new skills and working on improving myself. Not just on the field. I work on myself mentally, academically, and physically to push my limits.