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Above: Tyler Seaman in action against
St. Ignatius
VCSoccer.com
Athlete Spotlight, Tyler Seaman
For the past 4
seasons, the Valley Christian Boys Varsity Soccer team has relied on
underclassmen. Initially it was Ben Hansen and
Jeff Coggan, then
Joey Stryker and
Austin Keeling. Many of the players who have led
the Warriors to the CCS playoffs over the last three years have been
very young.
There are six sophomore
players on the varsity this season, all of whom have a very bright
future. Today's VCSoccer.com spotlight is on starting sweeper,
sophomore Tyler Seaman.
Each year there are
surprises. This year the Warriors coaching staff was greeted with 35
young men trying out for the JV squad. One of these players was Tyler
Seaman. On the last day of JV tryouts, head coach
Aleks Vranicic
made the decision to pull Seaman up from the JV to play for
varsity...nobody knew that he would start every game so far this season
at one of the most important positions.
Tyler has played hard,
against some of the toughest, biggest, strongest, most skilled players
the CCS has to offer week in and week out. If it's not Bellarmine,
it's Mitty, or St. Ignatius...all Nationally ranked teams.
In years past, the coaches
have put some of the top players on the team at sweeper, Chris Hansen
and Ryan Corry. In the system that
the Warriors play, ball skill is vital. The coaches ask the
defender to play the ball out the back instead of booming it down field.
Tyler and his defenders have worked tirelessly at this and get better
with every week that goes by.
Who would have thought, at
the beginning of the season Seaman is trying out for JV, and now he's
challenging guys like Jeff Cosgriff (SI star who's Santa Clara bound)
for headers in our box?
This week against
Bellarmine on January 5th, Seaman showed the heart that has helped him
reach his current status. On several plays he went into challenges
with players much bigger than him without regard for his wellbeing.
"On some of those plays, I
thought for sure he'd be hurt...but that kid just kept getting up and
looking for the next chance to help the team. He was organizing,
playing the ball out the back...he was brilliant for us. Tyler
bends, but he'll never break, and we love that as coaches!"
Coach Basanese said after the
Bellarmine game.
Tyler did suffer an ankle
injury after the Bellarmine game that is believed to be mild.
The coaches and players
alike have been impressed with this young man's resolve this season, and
are extremely excited for what he's going to add to the program this
year and in years to come!
So if you see #22 in the
halls at school or on the sideline after a game, shake his hand and
thank him for his willingness to step into a very high pressure role,
and put it on the line for his teammates!
Quote Sheet
Head Coach Aleks
Vranicic:
"Tyler has stepped up to
a role and position that is very demanding and critical and has done a
great job for us. Every game I see him improving more and more. Tyler is
a class act and very coachable. He does what he is asked to do to his
full capability. He doesn't show fear when going into tackles. Sometimes
I get the feeling that he would run through brick wall if I asked him
to. Being a Sophomore he is learning how to become a general on the
field and in the next two years he will be exactly what Valley Christian
Soccer is looking for, a strong leader."
On the Sophomore class: "The simple fact
that VC Soccer has such a small pool of players to choose from and the
high quality of game that we require, always has us looking for young up
and coming talent to be developed. This year we have Tyler Seaman,
Christian De Leon, Jordan Pereira, John Walitsch, Blake Cardoza, and
Alex Mosqueda. This is not the first year that we have had to depend on
an underclassmen to play a leading role. We are nothing short of excited
for the future of VC Soccer." |
