Grady Downs '23 Recruiting Profile

I love the game of soccer.  I have played the sport at very high levels during my career.  As a junior I was a 3 year starter for Duluth East High School’s 2021 team finished 3^rd in the Minnesota State High School for the AAA large school level. My 2021 summer premier club team won the President’s Cup for Minnesota and advanced to regionals in Ohio.  In 2021 I also participated in the MN United Academy development program.

My intense excitement and the strength of my will to win fuel me. I am an outside back but I have also regularly played striker.  The unique blend of the two positions has taught me how to be an offensive threat from the defensive side of the ball. If an opponent is bigger or faster than me, I know I have the ability to out work and out hustle them. I do not want to lose what I believe belongs to me and I will do what it takes to win. 

My will to succeed doesn't end in the game of soccer. I am a three-sport high school varsity athlete. I also play varsity hockey and varsity lacrosse (2022 Rookie of the Year Award) for Duluth East High School.  Being a three-sport varsity athlete at a large school is rare in this current time and makes me a different athlete than many others.  Playing three sports at a high level gives me a great advantage over my competition.  I take the lessons that I learn in all three sports and apply them to the other. Whether it is my field vision and movement or using my knowledge in my other sports to add unique creativity to each, I gain an advantage.  Additionally, it has helped me stay healthier both physically and mentally for soccer but still staying in top shape and competing at a high level of competition all year in the small population area that I live in. 

I apply that same will to succeed to my school work and most everything I do in life. My mother and father have taught my brother and I this philosophy. I know that I will use this gift that I have been given my entire life. By living this way, I know that I can tell myself that I have done the best I could no matter the challenge.