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Staying in state
Cleland, Lackey junior, verbals with Columbia Union
Friday, Dec. 12, 2008
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Lackey junior Kelsey Cleland verbals with Columbia Union in Takoma Park.
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Kelsey Cleland gives new meaning to the term ‘carpe diem' with her more than packed schedule. Recently, she committed verbally to Division II's Columbia Union College in Takoma Park, where she will play both soccer and basketball.
Cleland, a junior at Lackey High School, visited Columbia Union in November for an open house and met with head basketball coach Todd Fong, whom she played for on the AAU youth basketball team in the past and Antonio Azevedo head soccer coach as well as the administrative staff about her desire to begin her pre-med studies in 2010.
A very focused athlete, Cleland said, "I do what I need to do right away; I don't put things off for later."
Cleland manages to play soccer, basketball, indoor track and field, travel basketball, travel soccer and outdoor track and field. She's a certified scuba diver, participates in Jujitsu karate classes at Southern Maryland Jujitsu, plays piano, and speaks Spanish.
She has also joined a club at Lackey called, ‘The Invisible Children,' which brings awareness and financial support to the children of Uganda and she now desires to re-start a club at the school that will highlight the Fellowship of Christian Athletes organization. This organization expresses the desire to teach athletes that their talents are given by God and that they have a responsibility to play and teach in a manner that is honorable to God.
"We are still trying to get the OK from our principal to see if we can start raising money, Cleland said." We showed a documentary last week and about 20 people attended."
Cleland started playing competitive basketball at the age of 8 for the Lady Steel, formally known as the Lady Bulldogs, an active AAU team coached by Fong, former head men's basketball coach at the College of Southern Maryland of 11 years.
"The first time I went out for his team he made me cry. I had never played competitively before and he was tough," Cleland said. "He wanted me to do it over and over and over again until I got it right. He just wanted to get the best out of me and it's all paid off for me now."
Fong said, "I challenged her as her coach when she was younger and she proved to me that she wasn't a quitter; she pushed herself. She'll be well-received here at CUC. She's an athlete that knows what she wants. She has two more years to develop. Her defensive game is on target now. Offensively she is striving; it's been six years since I coached her, so I'm glad I was able to make that much of an impact on her life that she would want to come back and play for me."
Cleland is an all-around student-athlete and her pre-med major shows just how disciplined she wants to be.
"I have a 100 percent graduation rate with the ladies that I've coached, Fong said. "Nursing is our No. 1 major here and we have a hospital on campus, Washington Adventist Hospital. We're the biggest secret in Maryland. We're one of two Division II schools in the area."
Cleland joined the Springfield-South County Youth Club Fury Under-19, Division 3 team for the first time this past fall.
Coach Bill Creswick, a nationally licensed soccer coach and former assistant coach at Marymount University, welcomed her skills to the team.
"She filled a key role in one of our two forward positions on the field, contributing one goal and three assists this season," Creswick said. "Despite her long commute, she set the bar high for her teammates never missing a practice."
"She's one of the most coachable players I've ever worked with," Creswick added. "She's a determined, dedicated player. She's smart and quick and uses her slight build to her advantage in tight spaces in the attacking portion of the field. She's especially dangerous inside the six-yard box. I predict she'll contribute significantly to CUC's attack."
Some may be concerned about the verbal commitment coming from Cleland as a junior, but she is firm in her desire to attend Columbia Union.
"I'm 100 percent sure this is the school I want to be at," Cleland said. "I looked at this school when I was 13. I'm interested in this college, because it's smaller and I wanted to play both soccer and basketball, so it was a good fit. Coach Antonio Azevedo came and watched some of my soccer games and things just fell into place. They also said that 90 percent of their students get into med school from here."
