Soccer: Great Bridge goalie has designs on a different career

CHESAPEAKE

At a young age, Adam Klink drafted a plan to have his signature stamped on as many soccer fields as possible.

“When I was little, I always wanted to design shoes,” said Klink, Great Bridge High School’s goalkeeper. “That’s kind of what I had my heart set on doing, so I would just draw shoes all over the place.”

Klink, who also played basketball at the time, constantly sketched basketball shoes and soccer cleats – while adding his own twist.

“I would take bits and pieces of different types of shoes and put them all together into my own design,” he said.

Drawing shoes evolved into designing bridges on a computer, and now Klink’s plan is to study biomedical engineering at Rutgers, where he’ll also continue his soccer career.

He said his father, a pediatric neuro-ophthalmologist, and one of his grandfathers, an industrial engineer, had an influence on his choice of studies.

“My grandfather has a workshop, and he builds anything and everything,” said Klink, a senior with a 4.1 grade-point average. “When I was younger, he would make us little toys, and I remember going in his workshop and watching him.”

Adam “always had a lot of artistic ability, and in elementary school he showed an aptitude for math and science,” said his father, David. “That’s where his talents and interests lie.”

Klink was selected to attend the National Youth Leadership Forum on Medicine in Chicago the summer after his freshman year. There, he was able to explore career options available in the medical field. Biomedical engineering grabbed Klink’s attention.

“I figured I didn’t want to be a doctor, but I still wanted to help people,” Klink said. “Biomedical engineering and designing prosthetics was one of the things they covered there … that just really piqued my interest.”

He is among 35 players who were named to the most recent National Soccer Coaches Association of America Scholar All-America team.

These days, Klink has designs on helping his team to the top of the Southeastern District.

Klink was the district’s Goalkeeper of the Year as a junior after posting a 1.23 goals-against average, and was an NSCAA All-South Region selection.

Though Klink is one of the best keepers around, Wildcats coach Paul Duval said if his offense looks stagnant, he won’t hesitate to put Klink on the field to inject a spark in the attack. Duval says Klink is one of his fastest players.

“The best thing about Adam is the character he brings to the field,” Duval said. “Any time you put him out there, he’s an asset to the team.”

Still, Klink knows his future is between the pipes.

“I have to play like a college-level goalie,” he said. “That’s where I’m headed next, so there’s no excuse for me not to play any less than that. I’ve got to be as perfect as I can be.”

Klink said he put on 10 pounds of muscle in the offseason and ran as many as five miles a day. During the season, he works out in the school’s weight room for an hour before practice starts.

“It’s just constant work to be at that top level,” he said.

Klink says his team has the talent to compete for the district title but has to play with poise and build the attack – instead of getting caught up with dynamic long balls, an approach he has seen so much from opposing teams.

“We have to play smart soccer and pass the ball on the ground,” he said. “High school soccer is a lot of playing big balls over the top. We’ve got to settle down and gain our composure.”

The road to the top of the Southeastern District runs through rival Hickory, which has won the past three regular-season and tournament titles – and a team Klink never has defeated in his varsity career.

“I remember seniors in previous years say, 'Man, if we beat Hickory, that’d be the way to go out our senior year.’

“Seriously, that would be the way to go out – to beat Hickory, win districts, see how far we get in regionals. That would be the icing on the cake for my senior year. That would just top it off.”