On Thursday, Dec. 22, 2022, Pennridge senior Shane Velez was recognized for committing to continue his soccer career at the University of Massachusetts.
Shane Velez – University of Massachusetts (Soccer)
Major: Mechanical Engineering
Final list of colleges: UMass, Lehigh, Messiah
Reasons for choosing UMass: “They have a great soccer program and a great engineering school. It’s just a great sense of relief to know
where I’m going for college, and it’s a great feeling to be able to go and play another four years. I had such a great time in high school, and I’m expecting it to be a great time in college as well.
“Looking back on the four years I had, the friendships I made and everyone I got to play with – it’s closing a door on one and opening a door to another. I’m really looking forward to the experiences I’ll have.”
Soccer honors:
2022 United Soccer Coaches All-American
2022 United Soccer Coaches Region 2 All-American
2022 Pennsylvania Soccer Coaches Association (PSCA) Male High School Player of the Year
2022 PSCA All-State
2022 SOL Colonial Division MVP
SOL Colonial Division first team – 3 years
2022 Intelligencer Player of the Year
2022 PA Prep Live Player of the year
Coach Pete Valimont says: “In 15 years and coaching over a couple hundred kids over that time, he is arguably the best one to come out of our program. At the end of the day, the awards speak for themselves. He pretty much earned every single major award you can get as a high school player, and he’s well deserving. That would be like Carter Houlihan from North Penn or Evan Ware from CB East, and they won state titles. We didn’t win a state title, and Shane was still so well-known and recognized by coaches from around the area and across the state, and the best part about it is that he is probably the most humble kid that I’ve ever met. He would never bring it up in conversation, and he gets that from his parents and his dad, who was my assistant coach. He’s the hardest worker and just a great kid. He babysat my boys – my boys look up to him. It’s been an honor and a privilege to coach him. We’re excited about seeing him play next year.”
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