Pelphrey Succeeds in Athletic and Academic Arenas
In the world of sports today, there are many high school athletes who focus the majority of their attention on their own athletic prowess but do not put out an effort to succeed in academia.
As a result, those athletes tend to have a rough go of it when they finish their senior years and begin the process of making a choice on what college to attend.
Typically those aforementioned athletes do not have an alternative plan when colleges do not end up offering them a scholarship. And once they don’t receive a scholarship, they do not have the academic requirements to get into the university of their choosing, which leaves many high school athletes at a crossroads in their lives.
Mason Pelphrey is an athlete who will not have to worry about his future college plans. A two-sport athlete in soccer and basketball at Clay High School who also sports a 3.77 grade-point average, Pelphrey is the true definition of what our society refers to as the student-athlete.
Pelphrey’s hard work has not gone unnoticed, as he was nominated for the All-State Scholars Team by the Ohio Scholastic Soccer Coaches Association (OSSCA) by virtue of maintaining his high GPA and also because of his success on the soccer field this past fall.
The 6-2 senior led Clay in overall scoring as he finished with 23 goals and 15 assists in his final season as a Panther and took home several awards, including SOC I Player of the Year honors in addition to the First-Team All-District, SOC, and All-Academic Team Honors that he had already received.
However, finishing as one of the most distinguished soccer players in school history has not changed Pelphrey’s mindset, as he has remained humble and credits his success to many people, including his family, coaches and teammates.
“My family is always there to encourage me in everything I do,” Pelphrey said. “My parents are awesome. They provide the support it takes to succeed in anything. My coaches and my teammates have been awesome. They make it easy to show up and work hard at practice every day.”
Pelphrey said that his success cannot just be attributed to his family, as God and the help of his friends have also helped him succeed in life.
“… I also want to give a big thanks to Jarod Madden, Brook Long, and everyone else at Preferred Fitness and Tri-State Rehab for keeping me in good shape. Saro Sarajlic has helped me improve tremendously on my individual skill. Above all, I wouldn’t be here without my Lord and Savior.”
Pelphrey also mentioned that the support that he has received has helped him do as well as he has despite the time constraints that he has had to deal with.
“It definitely takes a lot of commitment, but my parents are always there to make sure that I have all of my schoolwork done. My teachers at Clay are great. They expect a lot out of us, but they make sure that we are prepared for college. I worked hard this soccer season but I really want to thank my soccer coach Roger Compton for being there and pushing for my nominations.”
Overall, Pelphrey said that he is very satisfied with his career at Clay. He also mentioned that he wants to compete at the collegiate level in 2014 and beyond.
“My career has been great so far,” Pelphrey said. “I continuously progressed and I had fun doing it. However, I can’t be content with just a good high school career. I look forward to playing and competing at the college level next year.
Pelphrey said that Clay should be able to contend for the SOC I title in soccer next season with the vast majority of the roster returning as well as the addition of a strong eighth grade class and also mentioned that the basketball team has great potential and should compete for SOC I titles.
Source: Colley, Kevin. "Pelphrey Succeeds in Athletic, Acadmeic Arenas." Portmsouth-DailyTimes.com. 4 January 2013. 5 January 2013.
<http://portsmouth-dailytimes.com/news/sports/2931699/Pelphrey-succeeds-in-academic-athletic-arenas>.