Conner led Cary-Grove to new heights
It's quite rare to hear a high school athlete single-handedly being responsible for putting fans in the seats.
Especially when the sport in question is high school soccer — no offense to high school soccer.
But that's exactly what Cary-Grove senior phenom Drew Conner did this season.
“It's awesome to hear people in school say they like watching the boys soccer team more than watching the football team,” notes Cary-Grove senior goalie Tommy Breen. “That's not something you commonly hear in the United States. Everyone loves him. He's the reason fans attend games. The success he's had in club and high school, everybody likes him because he does great things. He's put a good influence back in soccer at Cary-Grove.”
Conner, who did not play his freshman and junior seasons in order to concentrate on playing in the prestigious Chicago Fire Academy program, also made quite the impact on the Trojans squad. Conner's play on a team filled with talent helped secure the 2011 Fox Valley Conference Valley Division championship, a 17-3 win-loss ledger and a spot in a regional championship game.
Conner's play also has earned him the distinction of being named an honorary co-captain of the Daily Herald's all-area team. He shares the honor with Larkin junior Erik Rodriguez.
“It's his passion,” says Breen of Conner. “He always has the most energy and he always thinks about the team. He puts the team first. He knows what to say and do. He leads by example and by his words. He was the glue for our team without a doubt. We all play with more confidence when he is around. He teaches us so much in practice and on the field.”
When he was on the field at Cary-Grove people took notice. As a sophomore, Conner had a goal and 10 assists. This season, he had 13 goals and 14 assists en route to all-FVC Valley Division, all-sectional and all-state selections.
“If I were to pick a player to start a team around, I would pick him hands down,” says Cary-Grove coach Mark Olson. “He makes everybody around him better.”
Conner opted to forgo his freshman and junior high school years to play with the Fire Academy, an elite training system sanctioned by Major League Soccer's Chicago Fire team.
“Each MLS team has an academy system where they draw players ages 14 to 18,” Conner explains. “The Fire draws some of the best talent from the Midwest. You are playing great competition and you are training year-round. I got a lot better by being there. They have great coaches and you are training and playing with some of the best players in the state and the Midwest. You are training almost every day. It's a professional environment. I started seeing plays develop quicker and my thought process got better by being there. It was definitely cool being around that environment.”
Conner admits it was not easy being away from his friends and teammates on the Cary-Grove team
“It was hard,” he says. “But there was a certain time in my development where I needed to continue to grow as a player. Once I committed to playing at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, I decided I really wanted to go and play with Cary-Grove.”
Olson completely understood Conner's decision to play with the Fire Academy.
“It hurt, but I told him to go pursue what he needed to pursue,” says Olson.
Conner's reintegration to the Trojans' team was not difficult.
“I played with a lot of these guys until I was 11,” says Conner, who counts distance passing and communicating with his teammates as his biggest improvements this season.
“We all pretty much grew up together. This team is almost all seniors and most of us are close friends. It's been a lot of fun, that's for sure. It's tough when you have aspirations and you make sacrifices. I'm so glad I got to spend this awesome year with my teammates. I would not trade it for anything.”
Conner, who was part of a Fire Academy team that won a national title the summer before his junior year, added the past season ramped up his passion for the game even more.
“I was constantly traveling to Chicago every day and with all the stuff going on, it's tough sometimes to remember this is just a game,” he says. “This season, for me, I fell in love with soccer all over again. It was so fun playing with my buddies. It was like were back in the fifth grade again in recess. Everybody was on the same page and we had one goal in mind to play a certain way and play a certain brand of soccer. We did a pretty good job this year.”
Conner is looking forward to taking his talents north into Madison next season. He committed to Wisconsin in late February.
“I'm super-excited about Wisconsin,” says Conner, whose goal is to play professionally in the near future. “The staff over there is great and their recruiting class is unbelievable. I'm very confident that they will be one of the best programs in the nation soon.”
Olson marvels at Conner's unassuming nature on and off the field.
“He's the type of kid if you go, ‘I know you play midfield but the team needs you to be an all-state caliber forward,' he tells you he's willing to do whatever it takes for the team to be the best,” Olson states. “He's the most humble individual and the most unassuming kid. He laces up the boots and works hard. He's one of the guys. He realizes he can't do it by himself.”
Breen seconds the notion the success bug has gone nowhere near Conner's head.
“You would never associate that (cockiness; prima donna attitude) with the name Drew Conner,” says Breen, who joins Conner on the All-Area team this year. “Drew is always about the team, not himself. Drew doesn't talk about his success even though it's well known. Everybody has a deep respect for him. It's not every day that someone like Drew comes around.”