Senior Paul Wood has been playing soccer for almost his entire life. Starting at the age of four and playing all the way to his senior year, he has had quite the career. His whole caerer started from when his parents introduced him to the sport.
“So I’ve been playing soccer ever since I was four years old,” Wood said. “My parents kind of introduced me to it when I was very young.”
When Wood began, he played for many club and recreational teams in the Omaha metro building skill and talent. As he grew older he eventually was able to play at a few national tournaments and has traveled across the country.
“So I used to be on Azzurri and I used to be like a lower rec team. Then I went to a sporting club where I started on the bottom team and then kind of just throughout the year is it worth being up to the top team. And then having done that we’ve won quite a few like state cups we’ve gone to San Diego for a few national tournaments,” Wood said.
Woods biggest mentor is his coaches, both Club and high school. He owes it to them for where he is in his career today.
“Ryan Cruz, He’s an amazing guy like I mean, he’s probably the reason I am where I am right now. So I couldn’t I couldn’t possibly be as successful as I am,” Wood said.
Wood has played four years of high school soccer, with a big club soccer background he thinks that there is nothing comparable to high school soccer.
“I don’t think there’s really anything that can compare to the high school season you build like a really quick bond with the guys that are on your team,” Wood said.
For Wood his favorite memory on the team was playing against Omaha Bryan in his sophomore season. The principal at Bryan bought every ticket for the student body and the stadium’s atmosphere was electric.
“My favorite memory was the Bryan game because there’s just a ton of people there,” Wood said. “I believe the Bryan principal bought tickets for every student at Bryan, for them to go there. That’s probably my favorite memory of winning that game.
For Wood his biggest piece of advice for any new player on the team would be to talk and to be confident out on the pitch during games and practices.
“I’d say just talk, just always be like a leader on the field,” Wood said. “If you’re confident you’re going to win every tackle you go into you’re going to score more goals.”
Wood can relate to his advice, as he did not talk much as a freshman and realized that he can be a leader out on the pitch.
“I was quiet and I didn’t do too much talking,” Wood said. “But then like once I got there and like the coach said, I needed to be a leader out there on the field because I was skilled enough to be there.”
