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12/19/2018 11:00 PMDan Hearn competed for the boys’ soccer team at Valley Regional during all four years of high school, proving an integral member of the Warriors the past two seasons. After starting soccer at a young age, Dan stuck with the sport by playing on a year-round basis through travel and youth soccer programs. Dan developed into a solid center midfielder who specialized in seeing the field well and knowing where to move the ball in order to give his team the best chance at success.
While Dan has played soccer for many years, he had a tough time matching up physically at the high school level as a freshman. Following his sophomore season, Dan started spending time in the weight room to build strength that made him difficult to contend with on the pitch. That strength, along with more in-game experience against high-caliber players, allowed Dan to flourish.
“When I was a freshman, I was pretty light and not very strong. I would get bodied off the ball a lot. I worked out in the weight room after school, so I could be stronger on the field,” Dan says. “That helped me get better, along with experience. As a senior, I have more maturity than I had when I was younger, and that helped me with better decision-making on the field.”
As a center midfielder, Dan provided a link between Valley’s forwards and defenders. Dan used his excellent vision from that position to get the ball to the open man.
“One of the things that I’m best at is being able to see around the field and make quick decisions,” says Dan. “You can’t move the ball in a one-dimensional way. I’m always making sure I look back and pass back to the defense when we need to, so that we aren’t forcing the ball into the wrong places.”
Part of Dan’s progression as a soccer player involved him calming his pregame jitters, in addition to shaking off any mistakes on the field. As Dan’s assurance in himself grew, his performance improved.
“I used to have a lot of nerves before games. I think that was a lack of confidence. If I would have a bad play, I would dwell on it, and it would keep piling on,” Dan says. “As I got more mature, I let bad plays slip by and not let them control me for the rest of the game. Then, instead of getting nervous, I would get hyped up with music and have the mindset that we were the better team. That helped me go out there without any nerves.”
Head Coach Mick Fearon enjoyed working with Dan these last few years. Fearon was impressed with how much Dan grew as a soccer player between his freshman and senior seasons.
“Dan’s been part of the program all four years, and there has been a vast improvement in his level of play. He constantly worked on improving himself,” Fearon says. “He’s somebody who’s a vital part of the team. It doesn’t necessarily show up in his stats. It’s just his overall attitude, working out, and getting himself ready. That had a big impact on our team.”
Dan feels great about his overall improvement, but he’s most proud of the fact that he helped form a cohesive unit among the Warriors. Many of Dan’s teammates played together on Valley’s travel teams with Coach Patrick Dilger. That resulted in one of Dan’s most memorable experiences, where everyone headed across the pond to play some matches in the United Kingdom and also catch some Premier League action firsthand.
“The best thing about our team was the relationship we had. The senior guys were so close. We all did travel leagues together and even went to England together,” says Dan. “I enjoyed that close bond throughout the whole time. Even though I don’t really keep up with the Premier League that much, I like hearing the all of the banter between the other players and Coach Mick.”
As a senior, Dan knew that he would be looked upon as a leader for the Warriors. While Dan and his senior teammates were a tight-knit group, he made sure that Valley’s underclassmen were also brought into the fold, because he knew they were an important part of the squad.
“We definitely had a younger team. A lot of what we had to do as senior is make them feel accepted,” Dan says. “We had to allow them to join in on the relationship that we already had as seniors. I also tried to give them any other playing advice they needed, too.”
Dan is looking to major in engineering in college. He’s already focused on solving pressing problems. Currently, Dan is working on a water purification system for people in need in Haiti as part of his Capstone requirement for his graduation at Valley.
“I’m planning on studying engineering in college, and I wanted to do an independent study that would address a world problem,” Dan says. “It’s cool to experience the type of engineering involved with water purification. I need to experience more things in the engineering field to really know what I want to get involved in for my major and career.”