By Randy Vogt, Director of Public Relations, Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association
April 9, 2013-Congratulations to David Clemens, who along with Kyle Renfro, has been named by Virginia Tech head coach Mike Brizendine to captain the Hokies in his 2013 senior season.
"The role of a captain is to be our voice to the team in situations when they’re out in public, when they’re in the locker room or in any situation when coaches aren’t around," Coach Brizendine stated. "David and Kyle as our captains were an obvious choice. Both of them are leaders on the field in their training habits and their professional approach to the game. They are also good leaders off of the field."
"I’m very pleased with how they have developed, and I know they’ll take this responsibility seriously. They share the goals that the staff has, and they’ll help continue to push our team to get better as we move forward."
Playing center midfielder, David has led the Hokies in scoring during the past two seasons. His 10 goals in 2012 were the most by a Virginia Tech player since current Chicago Fire forward Patrick Nyarko’s 16 goals in 2006.
David was born in Saratoga Springs and grew up in Ballston Lake. In the Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association (ENYYSA), he started at the Clifton Park Soccer Club, where he was coached by his father, then played for the Alleycats and Black Watch Premier, all of the Capital District Youth Soccer League (CDYSL). He played for Eastern New York’s Olympic Development Program (ODP) for six years and toured England with the team plus was on Region 1 ODP for one year and went to South Africa.
David collected several honors his senior season at Shenendehowa High School, including Class AA All-Capital Region, First Team All-State, First Team NSCAA All-Region plus was the Section II leading scorer and Most Valuable Player.
He also played one year with Black Watch’s Premier Development League (PDL) team and will be competing again this summer in the PDL with FC Tucson in Arizona.
The 20-year-old credits his parents, father Khris and mother Nancy, for his development as a soccer player. He inherited his athletic genes from Khris, a top baseball player who was inducted into the Siena College Hall of Fame while Nancy works at Afrim’s Sports.
"My Dad actually picked up soccer after college and really got into it. He was my coach in youth soccer for almost eight years, and he was a big part in my development," David said.
With 123,843 youth soccer players––68,587 boys and 55,256 girls––and more than 25,000 volunteers, the non-profit Eastern New York Youth Soccer Association (ENYYSA) stretches from Montauk Point, Long Island to the Canadian border. Members are affiliated with 12 leagues throughout the association, which covers the entire state of New York east of Route 81. Eastern New York exists to promote and enhance the game of soccer for children and teenagers between the ages of 5 and 19 years old, and to encourage the healthy development of youth players, coaches, referees and administrators. All levels of soccer are offered––from intramural, travel team and premier players as well as Special Children. No child who wants to play soccer is turned away. Eastern New York is a proud member of the United States Soccer Federation and United States Youth Soccer Association. For more information, please log on to http://www.enysoccer.com/, which receives nearly 300,000 hits annually from the growing soccer community.