Boys Soccer: In One Year, Potomac Falls Grad Shanosky Went from VHSL Title Game to Pro Contract

By Dan Sousa
VivaLoudoun Editor

Sterling (Aug. 20, 2010) - Just 18 years old, Conor Shanosky has had a year of incredibly tough decisions and all of them have paid off as the recent Potomac Falls High School grad soccer career has taken a meteoric rise from the VHSL state title game all the way to a professional contract with D.C. United earlier this week.

Sitting outside of Potomac Falls High School -- Shanosky lives at home -- the almost 6-foot-4 defensive midfielder talked about his sudden fame and all those Facebook new friend requests and good luck texts and the cell phone messages.

"I looked down at one my phone at one time and it said I had 14 new messages and I had just checked my messages 30 minutes earlier," said Shanosky with a bit of awe in his voice.

It wasn't long after that VHSL state title game in 2009 which Shanosky and the Panthers lost in the most cruel of ways -- giving up a tying goal in the final seconds and then losing in Golden Goal to Blacksburg -- that he made his first big decision that put the events of today into play.

He made the tough decision to leave his Great Falls travel team and join the D.C. United Academy program which basically meant leaving friends and proximity for the offering of training with the youth program affliated with Major League Soccer club D.C. United.

That decision then led to a second decision, which was to forgo his senior high school season to concentrate on his D.C. United Academy team. And on that D.C. United Academy team he took a leadership role, being named a captain, and he was starting to put the ball into the goal from his midfield position. It was that scoring ability led to a call-up to train with the U.S. Under 20 national team in San Jose.

"I was becoming more of a complete player, scoring more goals," said Shanosky. "I was still playing my normal game which was to keep possession but I was going forward more and with my size I was doing well in the air."

Shanosky admitted to being nervous when he trained with the U-20 team but his stellar performance on the field led to a spot on the U-20 roster that played in the Milk Cup this summer in Northern Ireland under veteran professional coach Thomas Rongen. Not only did Shanosky earn a spot on the roster but he started in wins against China (1-0) and Denmark (3-2) and came off the bench in the final 30 of a 3-0 win over host Northern Ireland that clinched the title for the Americans.

"The U-20 team is very good. There are a lot of professionals on the team and some very good college kids," said Shanosky.

Through it all, D.C. United -- which had already had Shanosky practicing with the professionals -- was watching their prodigy grow and soon the contract offer came as United made Shanosky the third player to make the jump from United’s Academy to the senior squad, following midfielder Andy Najar and goalkeeper Bill Hamid.

Shanosky contract allows him to train with United’s first team, however, he will not be eligible for selection until the 2011 season.

"We are pleased to have signed Conor as our third homegrown Academy player,” said United General Manager Dave Kasper. "Conor has made tremendous strides in the past year both with D.C. United, and with his recent play with the U.S. U-20 National Team. He is tactically a very astute player, is excellent technically, and he is extremely committed and dedicated to becoming a successful professional. We look forward to his long-term future with our club."

Shanosky said that the first time he practiced with the first squad it was frankly an intimidating experience.

"The first time I walked out on the field I was just trying to take everything in. I was very excited and I had a lot of different emotions that day," said Shanosky.

Now those professional players are his true teammates. And with that contract came another tough decision as Shanosky will not play soccer or enroll at George Mason University as planned. He said he may take classes online but for now his employer is D.C. United and his full-time job is being a soccer player. The club is starting by putting the 18-year-old into the weight room for his first serious weight training ever, so expect some size to be put on his 185 pound frame by the spring.

"Every day I'm learning something new on the soccer field. I just want to focus on doing my best, day in and day out," said Shanosky.

Despite not going to college right now, he will be getting an education and not just in soccer as Shanosky has his passport ready for a trip to Peru with the U-20 team this fall. Shanosky has certainly come a long way since that tough state final loss in Radford just 14 months ago and there is no telling how far he will go.