The Rise Of Professional Soccer Player — Chad Vandegriffe
Dec. 6 2022, Published 1:04 p.m. ET
Chad Vandegiffe plays for the Florida Tropics SC and has recently announced that he will be returning for another season. He has seen tremendous success throughout his career and continues to win awards such as the Major Arena Soccer League Defender of the Year.
Chad’s soccer years started to take off when he went to Chaminade College Preparatory School. He always had a drive to push himself and become the best player he could be. So, it wasn’t a surprise when he became a four-year letter winner.
He also became the team captain and won the Defensive Player of the Year award. Under his leadership, he helped lead his team to the Missouri Class 3 state championship in 2006.
In college, he played at Southern Methodist University for two years and then transferred to and played for Saint Louis University. He went on to make the Atlantic 10 Conference all-tournament team in 2010 and Atlantic 10 Conference honorable mention in 2011.
By 2011, Chad was already a national runner-up and a U-23 regional champion. From 2013 to 2016, he played with the St. Louis Ambush where he was selected to the leagues All-Rookie Team as well as the team captain. Despite being a defensive player, he still managed to score 13 goals during his time there. He also played in the United Soccer League for Saint Louis FC from 2015 to 2016.
Chad played for the Milwaukee Wave from 2016 to 2020 and became the 2018-19 Major Arena Soccer League Champion.
In 2020, he went on to play for the Florida Tropics SC for the next two years and won many Major Arena Soccer League awards during his time there such as the 2021-22 Defender of the Year.
To this date, Chad has announced that he will be returning to the Florida Tropics SC to play for another season.
On that note, his coach has previously commented: “Obviously Chad was pivotal for us to get re-signed. One, the consistency of his play is pretty unmatched. I can't look back at any game last year and think that he was not just very good for us…”
He went on to say: “...he's so consistent, not only in how he plays, but his leadership and how he fuels the other guys. To get him re-signed for multiple years is huge for our organization.”
Chad’s rise to success has led him to be recognized as one of the top players in the Major Arena Soccer League. For 11 seasons now, he has continued to play in the big leagues and has shown no signs of slowing down.
His recent accomplishments include being named to the Major Arena Soccer League Elite Six, All-Third Team, and Regular Season Champion.
Chad’s hard work ethic and dedication to becoming the best player he can be is a lesson for all of what can be accomplished if you put your mind to it.
All in all, Chad Vandegriffe has shown what is possible with dedication and a desire to constantly do better. He leads by example and will continue to inspire others to become the best they can be.
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