Kevin McBain
of The Clarion
A young local soccer player is looking ahead to his future.
Mason Clapper, 16, was invited and recently attended a tryout, with college scouts in attendance, at Oxford, Ohio, the home of Miami University.
Kindersley soccer player Mason Clapper recently attended a college showcase event in Ohio.
Mason went down with mom Amanda and Bruce Penner for the workout held April 29. It ran from about 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.
“We were staying about 40 minutes away and on the drive there, I was pretty nervous,” said Mason. “I had my headphones on and didn’t say much.
“When we arrived I just said to myself, this is it, I am here, took a breath and went out,” he added.
Mason said that he had made a profile on a recruiting site – NCSAsports.org – and the head coach from Muskingum University, located in New Concord, Ohio, contacted him and invited him to the tryouts.
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Along with Mason, there were about 49 other players in attendance but just one other Canadian, from Ontario.
“We were split into four groups and a group with just goalkeepers,” he said. “We went through warmup drills with each coach, then they had what they called an ‘elevator drill.’
“They said if you were put in an elevator with your favourite coach and given 30 seconds to talk to him, what would you say,” added Clapper. “We all basically said the same things, introducing ourselves, and telling them why we would like to play for them. Then I met the coach that recruited me, it was a little different.”
He said the coaches talked about different scenarios in a game and asked how they would respond.
The players then did some transition drills, before splitting into teams to play a game. Clapper played right back and thought he did quite well.
“The coaches came up to me afterwards and complemented me on my passing and defence,” he said. “They said I was competitive and had a great mindset.
“They told me I could be working on the timing of my runs,” added Clapper.
The coaches then talked to players and parents about what the coaches were looking for in a player and stressed that grades were very important, even more then athleticism.
Clapper said that he was invited by four coaches to go on campus tours over the summer. The Grade 11 student wants to take business administration/marketing.
Clapper has been playing soccer since he was about four years old and has played on the local travel team since he was about nine.
He did used to play some hockey and basketball, but has decided to focus on soccer.
He is also passing on his knowledge by coaching and under-13 team this year.
“I enjoy teaching the kids and helping them out with their game,” he said.
As a player he wants to evolve his game play a bit.
“Hopefully we can work on more playing a more possession-type game,” he said.
“A lot of times we like to try and force our offensive game, when we should be trying to hold on to the ball more and looking for better, more creative opportunities.”
Clapper and his Storm team will be competing in a couple of tournaments this year in Saskatoon and will compete in the provincial championships in July.
He and Storm teammate Matt Janowski have plans to head to Chicago for another combine recruitment trip in July hoping to turn a few heads of the 50 or so college scouts expected to be in attendance.
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