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12/08/2021 11:00 PMThe Valley Regional boys’ soccer team recently celebrated the 2021 season by holding its annual postseason banquet. As he attended the event, junior Jake McKenna relished everything that the Warriors accomplished this fall in what turned out to be his “best year yet” with the program.
Jake, who typically plays striker, had 17 goals with 6 assists for Valley during the recent season. As one of the leading scorers in the league, Jake earned an All-Shoreline Conference Honorable Mention nod for his performance this year. Jake was quick to credit his Warriors’ teammates for his success.
“My teammates did a really good job of setting me up and giving me open shots to put easy goes in the back of the net,” says Jake, a Chester resident. “I like being on the ball and being able to score the goals for the team.”
Jake started playing soccer when he was six years old. After taking a short break from the sport, he rejoined his travel team in 4th grade and has been playing ever since.
Jake has always played in the middle of the field, starting off as a center midfielder before moving up to striker. While Jake has been a striker for most of his high school career, Valley Head Coach Mick Fearon asked him to make an adjustment this season. When one of Jake’s teammates sustained an injury, Fearon asked Jake to play center midfielder, and the junior excelled at that position.
“Some kids don’t like that or being asked to change positions, but there were never any complaints, and that really shows responsibility to the team,” Fearon says. “Jake helped us a lot and has a knack for scoring goals.”
Coach Fearon was impressed with the way that Jake stepped into a varsity role. As a freshman, Jake was mainly a JV player and, last year, he occasionally saw varsity time. Jake notes that Valley’s 2020 team was a “really good squad” and that he felt disappointed when COVID cut the season short before the playoffs.
After Valley graduated several top offensive players from last year’s team, Coach Fearon promoted Jake into a varsity role this season. With his new role, Jake was on the field for long stretches of time, and Fearon says that he “adapted to that really well with the level of play he was playing at.”
Jake was one of the key players who helped Valley have a successful season this year. The Warriors posted a record of 13-6-2 on their way to making the semifinals of the Shoreline Conference Tournament and the quarterfinals of the Class S State Tournament.
Coming off of a solid junior year, Jake is already thinking about his senior campaign and hopes to be named a captain for the Warriors. Jake will also be looking to close out his career with Valley boys’ soccer by helping the team claim the Shoreline Conference crown.
“I’ve always aimed to be captain since I was a freshman. I’ve always played with the captains, and they were kids who pushed me to do my best and pushed everyone else to do their best,” says Jake. “Every year, we always look for the Shoreline and state titles, but I think next year Shorelines will be more important, because we’ve come so close in the last couple years, and I know we can get there. We lost a lost of seniors and key roles in starting lineup, but the upcoming freshmen, sophomores, and juniors should be able to fill those roles, and we should be able to bring the title home.”
Jake and his teammates have already started to reach out to incoming freshmen with hopes of getting them to join them in a winter league, so they can “keep our skills fresh and develop bonds.” The team also participates in a summer league in order to prepare for the fall season. Jake feels grateful to all of his coaches, including Fearon and his summer league coaches, Connor McWade and Ian Lemley, for their support.
“Coach Mick has been the key role in developing my skills,” Jake says. “My summer league coaches, Ian and Connor, really push us in the offseason and during the regular season to be the best we can. My dad [Mike] has always pushed me to play and do my best.”
In addition to working on his soccer skills, Jake plans to play rec basketball with a men’s league in town this winter. Jake played basketball through 8th grade, but when he got to high school, he wanted to devote his winters to training for soccer.
Outside of sports, Jake is dedicated to his academics, focusing on his Level 1 and Advanced Placement classes. He also is a member of the high school’s World Food Program, an organization run through the United Nations that helps raise money for people in need.
Jake first heard about the organization through his older brother Jake Robertson, who was treasurer of the club as a senior when Jake was in 8th grade. When Jake got to high school, he took on his brother’s role. The club recently hosted Spirit Week as a school wide fundraiser that raised $1,400 and, last weekend, it held a bake sale.
“I wanted to help raise money for people in need,” says Jake. “It seemed wrong to join something else when I could be helping people, so this suited me the best.”
Jake has started exploring options for college. He would like to attend school “somewhere down south,” such as Maryland, Florida, or Virginia, since he likes the weather and atmosphere of those areas.
As he enjoys his personal finance class and new hobby of exploring the stock market, Jake plans to study business with a goal of owning his own business. Jake’s current top choice for college is Maryland, but he will also be looking into other schools where he could potentially continue his soccer career.
“While I’d like to play soccer, I know I’m not going to be able to play at a DI school with 50,000 kids, so I’ll continue to look at DIII schools where I can play,” Jake says. “Owning a business has always been a dream. It would be cool to be able to build something from the ground up, maybe in the realm of personal health and fitness.”