WEBVTT

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So originally I was just like most

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american kids I was into football and

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baseball but my dad had actually just

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gotten back from a trip to Wales and he

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saw that all the kids that were playing

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soccer and soccer just started becoming

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a new craze here in America and he put

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a ball at my feet and I was good

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and unlike how I was at football or

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baseball , it came to me naturally I

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was able to kick the ball further than

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other people . I was able to uh read

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the flight of the ball better and so I

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was good at it . So I kept doing it .

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So I found out about the Marine Corps

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soccer team while I was in Okinawa

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Japan to be honest with you the first

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time I heard about it , I kind of

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thought it was a joke , I had no idea

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and I thought it was something that

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only happens occasionally or you have

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to know somebody or some kind of closed

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off club .

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The competition for the all armed

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forces tournament and with the old

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soccer team specifically was probably

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the highest level of play that

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I've been able to participate in since

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my time at Elizabethtown college , we

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played in 2015 , we played against the

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club teams for the University of

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Arizona and Arizona State University

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and some of the players that we played

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against were outstanding .

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So I've talked to a couple of young men

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who for whatever reason the transition

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from high school to college was

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unrealistic due to payment problems or

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scholastic issues , things like that

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and I know that some of them are trying

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to pursue playing at a professional or

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semi professional level in other

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countries . In order to kind of bridge

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that gap , I will never tell somebody

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not to pursue their dream if they

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really , truly , in their heart of

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hearts believe that they can become a

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professional athlete , I'm not gonna

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tell you not to do that . So ultimately

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what I would have them do is considered

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this . The Marine Corps is a way for

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you to pursue excellence

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and play your sport and turn into that

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man or woman that needs to be there for

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the betterment of yourself , for your

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family and for those around you .