First-year Trevor Wright (Castle Rock, CO) arrives on an electric skateboard and daps me up.
He is a big guy, listed at 6 feet, 3 inches tall and 200 pounds. He looks more like a quarterback than a soccer player, many of whom are on the smaller side. That size and physicality is a key component to Wright’s game and he knows it.
Unafraid to use his size, Wright’s style of play is aggressive.
“[I’m] a big force in the air, so when any ball goes in the air I like to use my height and weight [as an] advantage against other players, whether that is offensively or defensively,” Wright said.
A center-back, Wright’s defensive play is an integral part of the team’s success, which is why Wright gets so much playing time as a redshirt freshman.
When asked about Wright’s game, DU soccer coach Jamie Franks said that “defending is what makes him special.” Franks also said how Wright plays to his strengths and does not try to overdo it, which is a trap many younger inexperienced players fall into.
Despite being a defender, Wright is also an offensive threat, apt to score the occasional goal, which he did for the first time in his collegiate career against Evansville on Sept. 10. On a corner kick from teammate and sophomore friend Lukas Fisher (Portland, OR), Wright rocketed the ball into the back of the net.
Wright said he knew that Fisher was going to hit the ball to the middle or back of the goal area. Anticipating the ball to come to his area based on the signal from Fisher, he broke on the ball with conviction. Once the ball got over the head of Evansville’s tall defender, who Wright guessed was about 6 feet 7 inches tall, he knew he had a chance.
He knew that this was his opportunity to “pounce on the ball” as he put it. At that point, all he had to do was make contact with the ball and it went into the back of the net. He described the moment as, “something I will definitely remember for the rest of my life.”
DU defeated Evansville 1-0 with Wright’s goal being the deciding factor.
The goal did not merely happen in a vacuum, it was the culmination of a process that has been years in the making, not only for Wright but also for DU’s soccer program and coach Franks.
Wright was an early and obvious target for the program. As the son of Mike Wright, a professional soccer player, and Colorado native, he had been on DU’s radar for a while. Coach Franks said that they have known about him since he was 9-years-old. DU was not the only school interested, however, with blue blood programs such as Clemson and St. Johns interested in him as well.
What separated DU from the rest of the programs vying for Wright came down to a singular reason—the coaching staff wanted Trevor Wright the person just as much as they wanted Trevor Wright the soccer player. They loved his quiet, yet confident lead-by-example mentality in particular.
Wright graduated high school a semester early so he could join the DU program. Forgoing the traditional ceremonies like, prom and graduation is something many kids would not do, but Wright is not most kids. Coach Franks said his decision exemplified Wright’s commitment to DU’s program, as well as his soccer career in general.
Usually, the soccer season is in the fall, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020-2021 season was moved to the spring. This led to Wright applying for a waiver that he ultimately did not receive.
He said that this process was “frustrating”, but this adversity showed his true character. Coach Franks says that Wright was “devastated” to not be able to play and help the team on the field, but that only motivated him to work harder and improve his play.
Coach Franks said that Wright would frequently stay in the weight room late to get in extra lifts.
“That was when we knew this kid was special,” Frank said with obvious excitement in his voice.
Wright’s rationale for putting in the extra work was derived from an ongoing dedication to his teammates: “Since I could not help the team on the field, I had to find a way to do it off the field,” he said.
Wright did this by hyping up his teammates and staying late for lifts. He said that this helped him a lot, not only in improving his game but also as a way of building relationships with his teammates.
It is clear that Wright has a bright athletic career ahead of him and will play a key part in the future of the program. He is looking to follow in his father’s footsteps and play soccer professionally. Based on his trajectory and his coach’s praise, he has a real shot at accomplishing this goal, but first, he wants to win a national championship for DU.
“Anything less than a national championship, our team is disappointed,” Wright said.
