Personal Statement
Becoming a professional Goalkeeper in soccer and at the same time completing a higher education diploma has always been my dream. I’ve started working hard for this dream for over 11 years now, achieving high grades in school, participating in many academic events and debates, and at the same time competing at the highest level in soccer to fulfill my passion. Therefore, I believe the next big step to get a step closer to my big dream is to pursue it through the educational and athletic path at a University in United States.
Being part of a Division I Men’s team (ERMIS FC) and playing for their U19 the past year, but also competing amongst the best teams in Cyprus such as APOEL FC and Anorthosis FC for the last 7 years, having participated in numerous National and International tournaments while maintaining a GPA of 3.8 at school was not an accident but the result of hard work and endless hours of practice.
It all started when I was 7 years old, in a private soccer academy. At the age of 11, I transferred to Anorthosis FC where I played in the U13 team for 2 years. During my third year with Anorthosis, we went on to win the U15 National Championship. After that season I transferred to APOEL FC being the youngest member to train with the U18 (age 15) whilst also playing for the U16 of the team. The same year, the U18 team won the league and the U16 finished second in the National Division I league. At the age of 16, I joined the APOEL FC U17 team; we had a great season finishing second and having only 1-point difference from the champions. Furthermore, during the same year we participated in one of the most competitive international tournaments “Aspire Academy Tri-series Tournament” in Qatar where I was named best Goalkeeper of the tournament having conceded 0 goals.
At the age of 17 I joined ERMIS FC (Professional Division I team) and I have been a member of the squad for the second year now as a goal keeper, giving me the opportunity to train and play with much older, more experienced players that help me develop my skills and my physical abilities through hard work and the intense training. Whilst being part of the 1st team, I was playing all the league games for the U19 where we won the National Championship and reaching the semi-finals of the National Cup.
As far as it concerns the academics, I managed to be a high achiever in school. I started Middle high school at the “The English school” which is a private British curriculum school and it’s considered to be one of the best in Cyprus. Finishing the 3rd grade I transferred to an Athletic English High-School along my transfer to APOEL FC. There I had extra morning soccer trainings multiple times a week. With hard work, discipline and commitment in both my academic as well as my athletic life, I managed to score a GPA of 3.8.
Currently, I am serving for my country, to fulfill my military duty in Cyprus Army. This has not stopped me from kept going on my pursue for my soccer and academic dream. I am still competing and practicing soccer at the highest level in Cyprus and have not let myself to postpone from keeping my mind sharp from studying, as I am still reading and practicing papers in mathematics and English in my limited free time. I get to practice everyday with my team having granted permission from my military higher officer to do so, and still participate as the starting goalkeeper for every official competition. This time may be challenging and hard, but it has only made me tougher, stronger and even more motivated to keep going.
It is a fact that for most people to try and combine athletics and academics can be a challenging path to take, throwing myself into hard work and staying motivated to commit to my dream future as a professional soccer goalkeeper and a highly educated individual, I am highly motivated and I feel more than ready to begin the next stage of the path for my dream at a high standard University.
