Get to know the player

What made you choose the college you did and the major you studied?
A big factor in choosing St. John’s was its location in New York City. I’d always wanted to visit New York and having the chance to live in a big city like that for 4 years really appealed to me. The facilities, coaching staff and the opportunity to train every day also drew me to St. John’s. The chance to compete in the Big East was also exciting as you get to play really competitive games every week and you also get to travel to lots of different places within the U.S. I chose to study Legal Studies in sophomore year after taking a few classes in freshman year. I found it really interesting and wanted to study something that I actually enjoyed learning about.

The pros and cons of being a student athlete?
The best part of being a student athlete is that you get to balance your sport and your studying which is not always possible in England. Getting to train every day like a professional athlete while also having time to complete a degree was a great experience as it prepared me for a career playing soccer while also preparing me for a career after I stop playing. Another good thing is that you have the full support from the university, for example they helped me make my class timetable based around my training schedule so that I didn’t have any conflicts. The cons of being a student athlete are that you’re always busy and you have to be organised to keep on top of school work and football. Training, playing, traveling and studying can be pretty demanding and sometimes stressful but as long as you manage your time well then it is definitely manageable and I still had a lot of time for socialising and doing new things.