Personal Statement

My collegiate goals and aspirations:

I would like to continue my passion for the game at an elite level, while getting a strong education in an engaging environment that will open up a solid future for my professional career.

I am particularly interested in business, finance and computer science.

My candidacy for your team:

I have evolved into the player I am today because I love the game and learned how to play with new teammates and get along with them. I am a tall and quick player who has learned to play in many different positions. I have enjoyed playing left-mid and forward as the leading scorer of my team, but also can play out of position comfortably like center back if there are any injuries on the team. I believe I am a team player and strive to excel as a team unit. I take ownership in big games as I lead at the front and perform big comebacks. I am eager to win and will not give up until the game is over. I act with integrity on and off the pitch with players, my coaching staff and the referees.

My differentiation in character, athletics, and academics:

I am a French and American citizen and started my young soccer career at the renown PSV-Eindhoven / V.V.Acht Academy training center when I lived abroad for 4 years in the Netherlands. I was the lead striker of my team with powerful header and left foot goals. I am an ambidextrous forward who can finish with both my left and right foot. I sometimes played center-back because of my height and speed where I learned defensive strategies. Learning this position gave my coaches trust in me to play both left-mid and center-mid when they needed me to.

I gained tenacity of winning through adversity with teammates speaking another languages and we became champions two years in a row. I also attended a special training program for a Ligue-1 French team in Annecy, France where I learned to go out of my comfort zone and match up with new teammates and got a different point of view from a French coaching staff. I attended David Villa's summer camp in New Jersey in 2017 where I had a chance to meet one of my idols and also learned the discipline and game requirements to develop new skills in a competitive environment.

Now in New York, I play for the FC Somers Club where we’ve won many trophies including the New York State Cup and the North Eastern and South Eastern Regionals Cup. We also made it to the semi-final game at Nationals in Denver, CO in 2018 and 2021, and proud to have reached the #1 rank in the Nation. I also play the starting forward on Varsity at the Somers-Lincolndale High School, NY (5 goals, 4 assists in 4 games so far) where we currently are #1 public school in the nation.

Academically, I have an average of 95.5% (GPA=4.0) while taking a majority of Honors and Advanced classes. I am a member of the National Honors Society and La Société Internationale d'Honneur Française. I am fluent in French and taking Science Research, a college-level course studying pain management using functional MRI. This year, I expect to take more college-level courses in Economics and Computer Science.

I look forward to hearing back from you. 

Thank you for your consideration. 

Jacques Verard.