Sports spotlight: Soccer player Braydon Hardegree

Sports+spotlight%3A+Soccer+player+Braydon+Hardegree

Right now it is soccer season, so I sat down with the captain of the men’s soccer team to learn more about him, his relationship with soccer, and how he maintains his time with of being an athlete, student, and a part of the theater program. Braydon Hardegree is a Senior here at MCHS, and he has been playing soccer since 7th grade. Here is some more information I learned about him:


Why do you play soccer?

One of my friends wanted me to play with him, so I just decided to play it because I played football and baseball. Then I just ended up enjoying it more, so I just kept playing. 

What is something about the soccer team that a lot of people do not know?

We have a really good bond and are really good friends. I don’t know if everyone knows that or not.

What is your relationship with your coach like? 

“It’s really good! He pushes us to do our best at all times. Just to give it our all and he is really positive with us. It’s just really good.”

What do you hope this years going to be like?

I hope we win a lot.

What are your goals for yourself and the team?

I would like to make it to the playoffs again because we did so my freshman year, so I would like to be able to do it my senior year.  My personal goal is probably just to grow as a player, so I can just learn the game better. 

What is faculty, student and community support like at games? 

It’s very little.  We have a lot of faculty there, but not many students.  I have a few friends that come out but that’s about it.

Is there a way us students can help by coming to the game? 

It would give people a lot more motivation.  When we have a bigger crowd it motivates me to play better, so that is one thing I guess.  It helps to know that people enjoy what you are doing and enjoy watching what you enjoy doing. 

What are other activities you participate in? 

I am in theater and I have been in all of the shows this year and last year. With soccer and theater I don’t have much time to do anything else. 

How do you manage your time doing this? 

Oftentimes I have to split time between soccer and theater.  So like I will go to practice for about an hour to two hours if we have rehearsal that day I will spend the rest of the time at rehearsal.  Sometimes I will have to completely skip one or the other.  It’s not necessarily easy, but I enjoy doing both so I am gladly sacrificing the time.  

Does being a student athlete affect your role as a student? 

Yes!  There are some nights we don’t get home till 11:30, 12 or 1 o’clock in the morning, so if I have a lot of assignments to do it will affect that.  Because personally I like to put my own health over doing my school work sometimes, even though I probably shouldn’t, but it’s not too bad.  I have had to learn how to do it since middle school, so I have learned how to balance it I guess pretty evenly but not that well. It’s just something you never stop learning.