Malinowski Scores D1 Scholarship for Soccer at George Mason University

AHS Senior Nick Malinowski has recently signed his letter of intent to play soccer for George Mason University’s men's team. However, the journey to that day was short of easy.

Malinowski started playing soccer at the age of four, and his passion for the sport only continued to grow in years that followed.

“I remember growing up watching Akron soccer and being in the stadium atmosphere at game time was a feeling I knew I wanted to experience, so I devoted myself to the love of the game,” Malinowski explains.

Therefore, Malinowski devoted numerous weekends away at tournaments, countless hours in training, and sacrificed many opportunities for the sake of becoming a better player. Malinowski advises younger players, “If you truly want to make it to the next level you need to set priorities. To make it, you need to sacrifice time with friends and family. Furthermore, you need to be able to manage school well because you will be spending so much time in the sport. It’s not a cliche term when I say you take no days off. Whether it be training or lifting to improve your physical attributes, you need to get better every day.”

During his high school career, Malinowski decided to continue with his travel team, Internationals, to further challenge and push himself to his utmost ability rather than playing for the high school’s team. It was this determination that caught the eye of George Mason University, a college located in Fairfax, Virginia.

“Ironically, I had never heard of George Mason before they reached out to me after one of our academy showcases. After looking into their school and seeing the recent success of their soccer program and their quality academics, I went on a visit. I immediately connected with the coaching staff and I loved the facilities. With the head coach being the old Columbus Crew coach, I knew there were many connections he had to help me pursue a career professionally after college,” Malinowski states.

Therefore, George Mason University clearly impressed Malinowski just as he impressed them. It was not much longer until Malinowski decided to call GMU his home, and the Men's Soccer Team his family.

“Given my late commitment to George Mason, they had no scholarship money available this year. A graduating redshirt senior had decided unexpectedly to stay another year which filled the scholarship which was going to be allocated to me,” Malinowski explains, however, “the upcoming years will provide athletic aid when the scholarship is freed up from the graduating seniors. Scholarship is all dependent on how successful I am on the field this upcoming year. Academically, I received a $10,000 a year scholarship.”

Malinowski waits eagerly for the upcoming school year where he will put on a new jersey for the first time in years, along with playing alongside new team members as he travels down south to George Mason University.