Andres Almenas '21 Recruiting Profile

My name is Andres Almenas, a 2021 graduate. I’m from San Juan, Puerto Rico, and I find a slight similarity between life and soccer. In life, you have a goal, it won’t be easy to get there, and many people will make it hard for you to achieve it. Things won’t always go as planned, and you’ll have to make your biggest effort to triumph. It’ll take trial and failure. You’ll have to get out of your comfort zone and risk somethings, but as Machiavelli said: “Never was anything achieved without danger.” But it took me a while to have this all clear.

When I was around 7 years old, a good friend of mine introduced me to the most beautiful sport of all, “Soccer,” and I’ve been in love with it ever since. My biggest inspiration at the time was David Villa, Iker Casillas, and Fernando Torres. It was the year Spain won their first world cup, and I wanted to do the same for Puerto Rico. As far as I know, Puerto Rico didn’t even have an international team, but I knew for sure I wanted to be in it.

For me, the first few years were all about falling in love with the sport. I played at a small team next to my house, where I developed most of my basic skills such as passing, shooting, and ball control. Then I transferred teams to “Revells FC” when I was 11. Here I grew the most; I learned how competitive I am and developed my more advanced skills and characteristics. I grew in character and discovered my leadership. I sharpened my passes, first touch, shots, and what I think is my most important skill, field view. The way I see the plays, anticipate plays, and knowing where everyone is positioned.

 Now I believe it is the time to grow as a player and expand. I want to get all the basic skills down to perfection. My main goal for High School is to have my right and left foot as sharp as possible in passing and shooting and my first touch as best as I can. As for College, my goal is to reach D I. Academic wise, my goal in High School is to graduate in Honors Society with at least a 3.6 GPA. As for Collage goals, a  Minor in Philosophy, and a Major in Political Science.