Soccer
By Mary Jane Souder
Tyler Afflerbach just might represent everything that is good about high school sports. The Souderton senior was a two-year captain of his soccer team, and the leadership he provided left an indelible mark on the program.
“He’s a really good athlete, and he understood the game,” coach Tom Quintois said. “I think he’s the type of kid who could step on any field right now and look good at what he does because he understands sports, and he’s always had that.”
There’s nothing especially unusual about that, but it’s not his athleticism that sets Afflerbach apart.
“He might be the smartest kid you’re ever going to meet,” Quintois said. “Smart kids make great decisions, and he did. That affects his teammates, it affects the entire program.”
But, again, that’s not all. It turns out Afflerbach, the team’s standout goalkeeper, also has taken on the role of coach, and his impact will be felt long after he leaves the program.
“There are little kids, goalkeepers that are going to be flowing into the high school, both boys and girls, who have been trained by Aff,” Quintois said. “When (former goalkeeper coach) Lee Spears left a few years ago, Aff became our goalkeeper instructor.
“Here’s one of our players who is actually a coach in our program. We have three guys in the pipeline right now that are all under his watch and all guys that play like Aff.”
That can only mean good things for Souderton soccer since Afflerbach has set the standard for his position, earning first team all-league honors in each of the last two seasons.
Not a bad ending for someone who, as a youngster, went into the net to preserve his position on the team.
“I didn’t become a goalkeeper until I was 10 or 11,” Afflerbach said. “I played on the Harleysville FC travel team, and our goalkeeper broke his ankle playing baseball. They needed somebody to play.
“I don’t think I was necessarily going to make it in the field player position at the time, so I figured I’d give it a shot so I could stay on the team, and it turned out to be a blessing.”
What Afflerbach lacked in stature, he made up for with effort.
“It’s hard to think back,” he said. “Obviously, I was very short, so I think I got chipped a lot, but other than that, I wasn’t very good, but you know, it’s hard to be a goalkeeper when you’re less than five-feet tall.”
Afflerbach may have had his shortcomings back then, but from the outset, he showed promise.
“He always had a good presence about him,” Quintois said. “He was a real little kid with some athleticism, but he was a kid that you could see he had a little attitude, a little swagger, a little bit of an understanding of the game.”
Those attributes combined have made Afflerbach one of the area’s premiere keepers. He credits his development to his good friend and former coach Lee Spears.
“Working with him and him seeing the potential I had that he brought out in me – that was really when I loved it and started to get more into it,” Afflerbach said.
He was thrust into the heat of battle as a freshman when – during the Indians’ district semifinal game against Downingtown West – the team’s starting goalie was injured and had to leave the game.
“It was definitely quite nerveracking because at the time the game was 0-0 or 1-0, so we still had a good chance at winning,” Afflerbach said. “Quintois called my name and said, ‘You’ve got to get your gloves on and go in.’ It was terrifying.
“I don’t remember this, but my parents and their friends always tell me that all the coaches on the other team’s bench started yelling, ‘Shoot, shoot, shoot the ball.’ I think I ended up making one save.”
Although the Indians went on to lose 3-0, Afflerbach did his job, keeping the Whippets off the scoreboard for the 10 minutes he was in the net.
“That was an accomplishment, for sure,” he said.
It actually was a preview of things to come for Afflerbach and the Indians, who twice advanced to the district semifinals and earned a berth in state in the last three years. Afflerbach, in addition to anchoring the defense, provided the kind of leadership coaches covet.
“Offseason practices – he doesn’t miss,” Quintois said. “He’s a model citizen around the building. Academically, he’s at the top of his class, and he treats everybody the same, makes everybody feel really comfortable.
“Oftentimes kids come in entitled as seniors and misuse that title. He’s a guy you wouldn’t even know he’s a senior. He’s the last to leave practice. He’s helping guys with the equipment. Little things like that don’t seem like much, but they’re huge.”
Afflerbach and high school teammates Jeff Wolf, Ryan Molyneaux, Tyler MacDougall and Trey Ziegler have been together on the Harleysville FC club team since they were 10 years old. Their Harleysville squad, which won a tournament in Behesda, Md., this past weekend, is ranked ninth in the nation. The players have carried the camaraderie that was created on their travel squad onto the high school team. It is what Afflerbach says he will remember most.
“There are so many things I could pick and choose to take with me,” he said. I think I speak for all my teammates and everyone that it’s been really fun, and it’s been a special privilege to be a part of such a great team with a great coach and just the family because that’s really what we were.
“Every year I played, that was one of our team goals – to be a family and become a family, and I think we did that every year. We always played together and for each other.”
Afflerbach saw his final high school season come to an end when the Indians fell to Stroudsburg 1-0 in the opening round of the state tournament.
“It was very disappointing,” he said. “After we lost, I stayed on the field a couple of minutes longer than everyone else. I kind of just took it in, took a last look around playing high school ball. It was bittersweet for sure.”
Afflerbach’s involvement in soccer didn’t end with the close of the season. He continues to compete with his club team and also works camps in winter and summer, training young keepers.
“I feel like I want to give them the privilege I never really had as a kid because I really didn’t get any formal coaching until I was 13 or 14,” Affterbach said.
As committed as he is to soccer, Afflerbach still finds time to be involved in student government and also works with the LINK Crew. He excels in the classroom, boasting a 4.54 weighted GPA. His course load is filled with AP classes.
“During soccer season is the worst when you have practice and have to go home and do homework and still try and have a social life.” Afflerbach said. “It’s tricky.”
Afflerbach, who plans to major in engineering, is looking at a list of schools that include La Salle, Delaware and Manhattan College. He plans to continue his soccer career at the collegiate level.
His will be a tough act to follow at Souderton where he has created an atmosphere of respect and camaraderie that transcends grade levels.
“When the younger guys feel respected and they feel part of the team, they’re going to contribute, and they’re going to lay it on the line for those seniors,” Quintois said. “He was able to create that kind of culture in our program. He had some help, but the culture was definitely created by him.”
