Naperville North's Welch stands out,
earns Chicagoland Soccer
Player of the Year honor
By Patrick Z. McGavin
So how do you get to the point where a Division I basketball prospect, who trains year-round for the hardwood and only plays futbol during the high school season, is named the Chicagoland Soccer Player of the Year?
An outlier named Tommy Welch is how.
Naperville North's 6-foot-7 junior goalkeeper edged out Libertyville star senior forward Ryan Wittenbrink for the honor. Welch's Naperville North teammates senior midfielder Jack Barry and junior defender Colin Iverson, and New Trier senior forward/midfielder Ryan Krueger were also nominated by Chicagoland Soccer contributors.
Welch is one of the best prep athletes in the state, and he's built a most improbable and impressive resume as a part-time player in a sport that demands dedication and rewards regular training.
After his pair of varsity seasons, Welch is: a two-time state champion; a two-time all-stater for both Chicagoland Soccer and the Illinois High Schoool Soccer Coaches Association; and the first winner of Chicagoland Soccer's Player of the Year award.
When you add the fact that high school soccer wasn't on his radar as he began his secondary education career, Welch's success recalls a apropos quote from the character Vizzini in movie "The Princess Bride." The whole circumstance surrounding his success is "inconceivable."
Welch's unique skill-set is one factor that's helped build his body of work.
"Tommy is truly an exceptional athlete," said Naperville North coach Jim Konrad. "He excelled at volleyball as a freshman as well as he did in soccer and basketball. I have no doubt he would be an excellent additional to the football, water polo, etc., programs.
"He has mental and physical attributes that allow him to succeed at a high level. He loves the bright lights and relishes the chance to play in big pressure moments.
"Tommy also has a short memory in terms of mistakes. Although he only let up a few goals this year, he is always able to refocus after things go wrong.
"Obviously he is physically gifted. People get caught up in his height, but he would be incredible at 6-feet as well. He is quick, strong, smart, and has soft hands."
One big play with less than 10 minutes left in the Class 3A title game demonstrated Welch's skills.
Libertyville pushed numbers into the Naperville North end trying to equalize. From wide right, a Wildcat blasted a ball toward the Huskies goal.
It was then Welch made his move.
He bolted from the box and made a grand and exuberant leap to redirect the ball out of danger. It was an extraordinary play -- Welch extended his long and agile frame to reach a ball few keepers could have challenged in quite that way. The move was also symbolic and psychological, indicative of the lengths Welch pushed himself to almost personally nullify every Libertyville chance.
“I do remember that play,” Welch said. “As I said, right after the game, your mind goes blank. It’s just natural to go after the ball or make the diving save. The whole time the game was going on, I did not know how many saves I had.
“Stopping them from scoring, that’s what I expected of myself.”
Moments later Welch made the last of his 13 saves, the most ever in a Class 3A championship game, as the Huskies punctuated a remarkable postseason by beating top-ranked Libertyville 1-0 Nov. 4 at Hoffman Estates High School.
“We knew coming into the game Tommy had to stand on his head for us, and he did,” Konrad said after the game. “He’s a fantastic basketball player, but he could be a pro (in soccer).
"You don’t see kids like that who are so quick, so confident, strong and such soft hands -- catches everything. In a big moment, when you need your stud to come through, he did. Without question he won the game for us with those four or five huge saves.
“He was great.”
The Huskies set new school standards of excellence for victories (27) and shutouts (21) this season. Welch was credited with 19 of those clean-sheets and remarkably did not concede a goal in the seven-game state tournament series.
Libertyville's Wittenbrink, a two-time all-stater and Indiana recruit, came into the game with 39 goals and 17 assists for the Wildcats and figured to be a handful in the final. He was. Seven of the saves Welch accumulated came against him.
“He was really good,” Wittenbrink said.
The Huskies’ postseason scoreless streak was even more impressive considering the high-level of competition they encountered in their state title defense: Lockport, Metea Valley, Naperville Central, Morton, St. Charles North and Libertyville.
Naperville North had many great players. Welch loomed the largest in the most significant game of the year -- a clash between the last two large-school state champions.
“My coaches at Naperville North, in soccer and basketball, have taught me how to win,” Welch said.
In basketball, Welch started at forward for the Huskies’ as a sophomore and helped them reach the Class 4A supersectional last spring. Just days after the end of this season, Welch again deftly made the transition. He makes the two work.
“Soccer was my first sport,” he said. “Everyone grows up playing soccer. It was the first sport that I loved.
"As I grew, I picked up basketball a little bit more and realized, it fit my more competitive nature. Being a goalie, you have to be really quick. In basketball, every movement is a sprint and you have to be able to react to whatever the play is happening.
“My quickness has improved from basketball.”
Hoops was going to be Welch's focus in high school.
"Tommy played JV1 soccer as a freshman," Konrad said. "He had stopped playing club over a year before he started high school and wasn’t sure if he was going to play for us or not. I had heard that he was focusing solely on basketball and might not play high school soccer.
"To be honest, at the time I knew he was a fantastic athlete but had never seen him in the goal. Thankfully, a few of his closest friends are soccer players and Tommy is a kid who loves to compete and be involved, which in the end brought him out for soccer.
"After a fantastic freshman season, I wasn’t sure if he was going to come out or not because his commitments to club basketball and our basketball team demanded the majority of his time. Again, I think it was his ties to his friends on the team and his desire to compete that kept him coming back to soccer. The skill set required of him in the goal supports his efforts on the basketball court and vice versa."
The last man in soccer holds an extraordinary responsibility. Welch has never shirked from the challenge. His length is formidable but what makes him unique is his quickness, reaction time and ability to read and anticipate plays before they develop. Add a standout work ethic to that and you have a nearly unbeatable combination.
“I know if I want to be the best I have to work when people are not looking,” he said. “You have to do it even if it’s hard.”
He made the transition to varsity soccer seamlessly.
“When I first started playing varsity, the speed of the game and how quickly the ball moves was a challenge," he said. "People just blasted it on me from six-yards out, and I had to get used to that, but I learned how to compensate for that pretty quickly.”
Soccer and basketball share another dominant quality, the importance of chemistry. In the lead-up to the season Welch worked on refining and improving every aspect of his game. He worked on the intangibles like the sureness when he grabbed the ball and improving the accuracy of his punts, but the crucial part, he said, was becoming a more vocal and communicative leader.
“You need to be able to talk,” he said. “I don’t want anything past me, and the best way about this is talking with the backs and the midfielders. All year, our defense was something we took a lot of pride in.
"We knew the better we played, the better chance we had of winning. Colin and Mitch (Konrad), they talk very well and did a great job of communicating, and it was something I had to do as well.”
Success naturally begets grace and achievement. Winning is psychological, a state of being. Naperville North began the year with heightened expectations, the natural byproduct of achieving the ultimate prize. They carried the proverbial target and took on every challenge.
“We did feel the pressure the whole year,” Welch said. “Going into the season, I had some confidence. As the year went on, I did not think about my statistics or anything like that. I did not think about being All-State. I did not know I was that good.
“Being ... unaware of my talent really helped me push myself in practice.”
Now he has the best of both worlds. He is a coveted young man. His success in soccer only propelled him further in basketball. Last year was also his first on the varsity basketball team. He was a young player on a deep, versatile and senior-dominated squad. He learned the game.
Playing a complementary basketball role last year, Welch showed off an extended game and more versatile skill level playing with both the Huskies hoopers and the elite Illinois Wolves club program. He has taken his game to new levels, showing the ability to take players off the dribble, post up and shoot from the perimeter. He also has good passing skills.
He has already received basketball scholarship offers from Kent State and Western Illinois and generated interest from a number of other Division I programs. He is one of two returning starters for the Huskies’ basketball team.
Welch and Naperville North are off to a fantastic start this season. Through Dec. 14, the Huskies are 7-0 and posted impressive victories over ranked West Aurora and Proviso East to win the Naperville North/Oswego Thanksgiving tournament. The junior ranks with the best in his class and is averaging 15.3 points, seven rebounds and 3.7 assists in so far.
Coach Konrad hopes his star keeper keeps his options open.
"Colleges are starting to come after Tommy for soccer," Konrad said. "Although he already has numerous Division I basketball offers, he will now be faced with the decision of soccer vs. basketball. As good as he is at basketball the sky is the limit for him when it comes to soccer.
"He will leave Naperville North as our most decorated soccer player, and my hope is that he considers a professional career in soccer as well."
Welch is aware of his soccer coach’s thoughts.
Basketball is his favorite sport, the one he is most passionate about, but the next chapter remains to be written.
“I am leaving all the doors open,” he said. “I am not cutting anything out. If soccer gets me into a better school, I might have to make that choice. Academics are very important to me. For me, being a goalie, it is still fun.
“If I got paid to do something, that’s a great job.”
earns Chicagoland Soccer
Player of the Year honor
By Patrick Z. McGavin
So how do you get to the point where a Division I basketball prospect, who trains year-round for the hardwood and only plays futbol during the high school season, is named the Chicagoland Soccer Player of the Year?
An outlier named Tommy Welch is how.
Naperville North's 6-foot-7 junior goalkeeper edged out Libertyville star senior forward Ryan Wittenbrink for the honor. Welch's Naperville North teammates senior midfielder Jack Barry and junior defender Colin Iverson, and New Trier senior forward/midfielder Ryan Krueger were also nominated by Chicagoland Soccer contributors.
Welch is one of the best prep athletes in the state, and he's built a most improbable and impressive resume as a part-time player in a sport that demands dedication and rewards regular training.
After his pair of varsity seasons, Welch is: a two-time state champion; a two-time all-stater for both Chicagoland Soccer and the Illinois High Schoool Soccer Coaches Association; and the first winner of Chicagoland Soccer's Player of the Year award.
When you add the fact that high school soccer wasn't on his radar as he began his secondary education career, Welch's success recalls a apropos quote from the character Vizzini in movie "The Princess Bride." The whole circumstance surrounding his success is "inconceivable."
Welch's unique skill-set is one factor that's helped build his body of work.
"Tommy is truly an exceptional athlete," said Naperville North coach Jim Konrad. "He excelled at volleyball as a freshman as well as he did in soccer and basketball. I have no doubt he would be an excellent additional to the football, water polo, etc., programs.
"He has mental and physical attributes that allow him to succeed at a high level. He loves the bright lights and relishes the chance to play in big pressure moments.
"Tommy also has a short memory in terms of mistakes. Although he only let up a few goals this year, he is always able to refocus after things go wrong.
"Obviously he is physically gifted. People get caught up in his height, but he would be incredible at 6-feet as well. He is quick, strong, smart, and has soft hands."
One big play with less than 10 minutes left in the Class 3A title game demonstrated Welch's skills.
Libertyville pushed numbers into the Naperville North end trying to equalize. From wide right, a Wildcat blasted a ball toward the Huskies goal.
It was then Welch made his move.
He bolted from the box and made a grand and exuberant leap to redirect the ball out of danger. It was an extraordinary play -- Welch extended his long and agile frame to reach a ball few keepers could have challenged in quite that way. The move was also symbolic and psychological, indicative of the lengths Welch pushed himself to almost personally nullify every Libertyville chance.
“I do remember that play,” Welch said. “As I said, right after the game, your mind goes blank. It’s just natural to go after the ball or make the diving save. The whole time the game was going on, I did not know how many saves I had.
“Stopping them from scoring, that’s what I expected of myself.”
Moments later Welch made the last of his 13 saves, the most ever in a Class 3A championship game, as the Huskies punctuated a remarkable postseason by beating top-ranked Libertyville 1-0 Nov. 4 at Hoffman Estates High School.
“We knew coming into the game Tommy had to stand on his head for us, and he did,” Konrad said after the game. “He’s a fantastic basketball player, but he could be a pro (in soccer).
"You don’t see kids like that who are so quick, so confident, strong and such soft hands -- catches everything. In a big moment, when you need your stud to come through, he did. Without question he won the game for us with those four or five huge saves.
“He was great.”
The Huskies set new school standards of excellence for victories (27) and shutouts (21) this season. Welch was credited with 19 of those clean-sheets and remarkably did not concede a goal in the seven-game state tournament series.
Libertyville's Wittenbrink, a two-time all-stater and Indiana recruit, came into the game with 39 goals and 17 assists for the Wildcats and figured to be a handful in the final. He was. Seven of the saves Welch accumulated came against him.
“He was really good,” Wittenbrink said.
The Huskies’ postseason scoreless streak was even more impressive considering the high-level of competition they encountered in their state title defense: Lockport, Metea Valley, Naperville Central, Morton, St. Charles North and Libertyville.
Naperville North had many great players. Welch loomed the largest in the most significant game of the year -- a clash between the last two large-school state champions.
“My coaches at Naperville North, in soccer and basketball, have taught me how to win,” Welch said.
In basketball, Welch started at forward for the Huskies’ as a sophomore and helped them reach the Class 4A supersectional last spring. Just days after the end of this season, Welch again deftly made the transition. He makes the two work.
“Soccer was my first sport,” he said. “Everyone grows up playing soccer. It was the first sport that I loved.
"As I grew, I picked up basketball a little bit more and realized, it fit my more competitive nature. Being a goalie, you have to be really quick. In basketball, every movement is a sprint and you have to be able to react to whatever the play is happening.
“My quickness has improved from basketball.”
Hoops was going to be Welch's focus in high school.
"Tommy played JV1 soccer as a freshman," Konrad said. "He had stopped playing club over a year before he started high school and wasn’t sure if he was going to play for us or not. I had heard that he was focusing solely on basketball and might not play high school soccer.
"To be honest, at the time I knew he was a fantastic athlete but had never seen him in the goal. Thankfully, a few of his closest friends are soccer players and Tommy is a kid who loves to compete and be involved, which in the end brought him out for soccer.
"After a fantastic freshman season, I wasn’t sure if he was going to come out or not because his commitments to club basketball and our basketball team demanded the majority of his time. Again, I think it was his ties to his friends on the team and his desire to compete that kept him coming back to soccer. The skill set required of him in the goal supports his efforts on the basketball court and vice versa."
The last man in soccer holds an extraordinary responsibility. Welch has never shirked from the challenge. His length is formidable but what makes him unique is his quickness, reaction time and ability to read and anticipate plays before they develop. Add a standout work ethic to that and you have a nearly unbeatable combination.
“I know if I want to be the best I have to work when people are not looking,” he said. “You have to do it even if it’s hard.”
He made the transition to varsity soccer seamlessly.
“When I first started playing varsity, the speed of the game and how quickly the ball moves was a challenge," he said. "People just blasted it on me from six-yards out, and I had to get used to that, but I learned how to compensate for that pretty quickly.”
Soccer and basketball share another dominant quality, the importance of chemistry. In the lead-up to the season Welch worked on refining and improving every aspect of his game. He worked on the intangibles like the sureness when he grabbed the ball and improving the accuracy of his punts, but the crucial part, he said, was becoming a more vocal and communicative leader.
“You need to be able to talk,” he said. “I don’t want anything past me, and the best way about this is talking with the backs and the midfielders. All year, our defense was something we took a lot of pride in.
"We knew the better we played, the better chance we had of winning. Colin and Mitch (Konrad), they talk very well and did a great job of communicating, and it was something I had to do as well.”
Success naturally begets grace and achievement. Winning is psychological, a state of being. Naperville North began the year with heightened expectations, the natural byproduct of achieving the ultimate prize. They carried the proverbial target and took on every challenge.
“We did feel the pressure the whole year,” Welch said. “Going into the season, I had some confidence. As the year went on, I did not think about my statistics or anything like that. I did not think about being All-State. I did not know I was that good.
“Being ... unaware of my talent really helped me push myself in practice.”
Now he has the best of both worlds. He is a coveted young man. His success in soccer only propelled him further in basketball. Last year was also his first on the varsity basketball team. He was a young player on a deep, versatile and senior-dominated squad. He learned the game.
Playing a complementary basketball role last year, Welch showed off an extended game and more versatile skill level playing with both the Huskies hoopers and the elite Illinois Wolves club program. He has taken his game to new levels, showing the ability to take players off the dribble, post up and shoot from the perimeter. He also has good passing skills.
He has already received basketball scholarship offers from Kent State and Western Illinois and generated interest from a number of other Division I programs. He is one of two returning starters for the Huskies’ basketball team.
Welch and Naperville North are off to a fantastic start this season. Through Dec. 14, the Huskies are 7-0 and posted impressive victories over ranked West Aurora and Proviso East to win the Naperville North/Oswego Thanksgiving tournament. The junior ranks with the best in his class and is averaging 15.3 points, seven rebounds and 3.7 assists in so far.
Coach Konrad hopes his star keeper keeps his options open.
"Colleges are starting to come after Tommy for soccer," Konrad said. "Although he already has numerous Division I basketball offers, he will now be faced with the decision of soccer vs. basketball. As good as he is at basketball the sky is the limit for him when it comes to soccer.
"He will leave Naperville North as our most decorated soccer player, and my hope is that he considers a professional career in soccer as well."
Welch is aware of his soccer coach’s thoughts.
Basketball is his favorite sport, the one he is most passionate about, but the next chapter remains to be written.
“I am leaving all the doors open,” he said. “I am not cutting anything out. If soccer gets me into a better school, I might have to make that choice. Academics are very important to me. For me, being a goalie, it is still fun.
“If I got paid to do something, that’s a great job.”