Personal Statement
I live in England and I graduate High School in June 2023. I live in a small village about an hours drive from Manchester in the North of England. I live with my parents, Scott and Sally and have my older brother has graduated from University here and has just moved to London to start his career in Music production. We live with our 2 dogs and life is centred around school, family and of course, soccer.
I obtained a major sports scholarship to attend Stonyhurst and I graduate in May/June 2023. I have a GPA of 3.8. My academics are very important to me and for this reason I attended Stonyhurst so that I could concentrate on both my sport and my studies. My family did not want my academics to suffer and as such Stonyhurst was the perfect fit for me, allowing me to continue a wide range of sports whilst ensuring my academics didn’t suffer. I have also been able to engage in all areas of school life and was given the lead part of the school’s production of Tony in West Side Story. Our school motto is ‘Quant Je Puis’ which translates as “All that I can”. We are taught to be Men and women for others. Coming to America to study is all I have wanted to do since I was 13.
I am an avid soccer player. I play a few different positions, but am very strong in Defence and Centre Midfield. For many years it has been my dream to come to America to study and to play soccer within the incredible facilities that are there. In December 2021, I was lucky enough to travel to the US and we toured Florida and drove up to North Carolina to watch the College Cup Final in Cary between Clemson and University of Washington. What a change from watching a match in the warm sunshine as opposed to the wet and windy December matches in the North of England!
I have been involved in many professional academy teams to include Manchester City, Blackburn Rovers and Accrington Stanley. I currently play for Lancashire County u18s who have just won the Northern Counties Championship Cup! I currently play for Clitheroe FC u23s which is in the Northern Premier League. I am the only boy playing for them who is still in High School and have been playing for them since I was 17. Hopefully this tells you how strong I am as a defender as many of them are 4 or 5 years older than me and many play for the first team. This is a semi-professional team close to where I live and has a fantastic set up. Last week we have just won our league! I also play for Rimington 1st and u18s team. I have often won Players’ player of the year, Manager’s player of the year, Player who gave most contribution. In school I was awarded the Venthom Trophy which is awarded to the Most outstanding Sportsman.
Although not in relation to Soccer, I am also a very talented rugby player with my school. The school has a longstanding history of rugby. I am the lead try scorer at school. I have been part of Sale Sharks Rugby DPP program but I have always wanted to play soccer professionally. I have been part of the rugby team at school since I joined when I was 7 years old. This means I currently play rugby for the school which involves around 8 hours of training a week, I play for 2 different football teams which involves training for them and 2 matches a week. I hope this demonstrates to you my athletic ability. I have a strong work ethic and love to be part of a team. With school, I have been Captain of the Rugby 7s team, the Cross Country team and the Athletics team. I came 4th in the National Athletics 300m under 14s race when I was 13 years old. There was only 0.7 secs between the winner and 4th place and I won my heat with 40.52 seconds. (It should be noted here that I wasn't a sprint runner at the time and was entered in to the race at the last minute!!) I'm very proud of this achievement. I also attended Rafa Nadal’s tennis academy in Majorca in 2019. With tennis, I have represented Clitheroe, Ribble Valley and my school team, travelling the Country for tournaments. I now prioritise soccer, rugby at school and I am a keen golfer.
I am involved with a charity in Haiti and helping them provide sports kits and boots to their children who they take from the streets and help them through sport to be children again. It’s an incredible charity that I am very proud to be a part of. I am also in the process of organising a 24 hour soccer game in the UK to raise money for them. With school I do volunteer work as part of the Arupe program we do such things as wheelchair dancing and keeping company to elderly people.
I have also completed and passed the exhibition section of Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award. I have also taken part in CCF for 2 years.
