Rui Tavares '21 Recruiting Profile

I was born in USA but raised in Cape Verde, West Africa. There the main sport is soccer so I’ve been playing soccer in a academy since I was 5. I’ve played in many different teams, learned from different coaches and I always had a good relationship with them. I’m a very competitive player and also a intelligent one. I’m very focused on soccer, I give my all in practices and I try to learn a lot off the field by watching videos of professional players and learning how they play and what can I do to be the best.

My main goal for the future is get to be a professional soccer players, but obviously I try to balance school and soccer. I’m a very good student and that helps me have more options in the future if I don’t fulfill my goal of being a pro soccer player. Back In Cape Verde I played for Sporting Lisbon academy and then I moved to Portugal to play for Vitoria Setúbal youth 16, but because of school related reasons my parents wanted me to come back to the USA. Here on my second year I was named varsity  captain. I like to show my leadership in practices and games, by giving advices to my teammates, compliment them and set a example on and off the field. I’m a physical player and also a playmaker, I can play both defense and offense. I think my best abilities are my speed, my intelligence( quick thinking), positioning and passing.