France, Italy, Germany, and Croatia are just a few of the countries Ben Dao has visited while playing soccer at the National level.  Ben, a senior at Tuscarora, is an attacking midfielder and striker for our Boys’ Varsity soccer team. Just recently Ben has announced that he has committed James Madison University to play for their Division 1 soccer team.

Ever since he was just three years old Ben has been playing soccer, and even before that his dad was always putting a soccer ball at his feet.  You could say all of this practice has truly paid off, especially when you consider all of his accomplishments within the sport. For instance he has received the honor of being named to first team all-area every year since his sophomore year. He has also received second team all-state and an award for Esmark All American.  His commitment to the sport is shown by his schedule; outside of the high school season he trains 5 days a week in Baltimore, not including his games.

With his commitment to JMU, Ben is most looking forward to seeing where soccer can take him, but he is also looking forward to getting a good education. He is thinking about majoring in business but at the moment he is undecided. Ben decided to commit to the college after receiving an email from the school in which they expressed interest in him. The school was already in his top 5, so he decided to give it a chance.

Ben says the recruiting process is an exciting one, “it shows how all the work I put into the game paid off.” The best part about the process for Ben was getting all of the emails and calls from coaches saying
“they loved what they saw” in a tournament or game. The process may seem like fun and games but it is also stressful. “The uncertainty of whether or not you will get recruited was definitely the hardest part,” says Dao.

In his high school career Ben’s most memorable moment was when he scored the game winning goal against Frederick high in playoffs during his sophomore year. During high school Ben has scored 29 goals and has had 21 assists and he is looking to score 30+ in his senior year.  In his senior year Ben is looking to further improve himself and his team in the process.