Kelly Croysdale head-to-toe talent

By TOM WILLIAMS
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
AUSTINTOWN -- For Austintown Fitch High School senior Kelly Croysdale, soccer has always been a family affair.
Her parents -- Ken and Patty -- have been volunteer youth coaches, first for Kelly's brother Casey (21 and a senior at Miami Ohio University) and sister Kristy (19, a sophomore women's soccer player at Mount Union College).
The baby of the family, Kelly hopes to honor her siblings by attending Miami next fall and playing women's soccer as a walk-on. Bowling Green is the other school she's considering.
Accomplishments
This fall, the youngest Croysdale served as team captain and scored 17 goals in helping lead Fitch (13-5-2) to its first regional appearance. She received third-team All-Ohio honors and was named first team for the Federal League and district.
With a grade-point average of 4.00, she's a candidate for valedictorian and member of National Honor Society. She's also The Vindicator's girls soccer Player of the Year.
"To be a student-athlete is tough, but it's a very rewarding thing," Croysdale said." It means a lot more to have the grades to be able to continue."
About Miami, Croysdale said she's been told she "can try out and walk on the team and play. And they have a great club program that travels, and that can help in making the transition.
"The first time I went down there, I knew that I wanted to go there," Croysdale said of the Oxford campus. "It's beautiful [but] it's five hours away. But it's what you think a college should like that."
Like her siblings, Croysdale got her start in soccer at the Austintown Junior Soccer League when she was 6.
Family event
"I remember going to around to all the games with my brother and sister, watching them play," Croysdale said. "It was a lot of fun and my parents coached sometimes so it was a big family event. I looked forward to it so much."
By age 9, she was playing fall league and for the past seven winters, she's been playing club (travel) soccer. Most recently, her club team has been Mahoning Valley Select (formerly Premier).
She played basketball and ran track in junior high, but gave up those sports up to concentrate on soccer full-time. Traveling enabled her to play top competition.
"[That] experience really shapes you," Croysdale said. "It teaches you lot and you can give back to the game a lot more."
Croysdale credited the efforts of George Djisheff and Neil Fowler for doing a lot for travel soccer programs in the Mahoning Valley.
"Getting things organized in the area, that's what we need," Croysdale said. "There's a lot of great players around here who need a place to play. [Djisheff] gave that."
Croysdale has the most respect for Carlo Trafficante, the Falcons' varsity coach.
"Mr. T has been the best coach that I could ever have asked for," Croysdale said. "He cares for everybody, not only as his teammates but also as his friends. He treats us so well.
Gelled
"I knew that we had a great opportunity to do well," Croysdale said of her senior season. "It was just a matter of gelling and putting it together. We definitely [believed]. Everything from there on out was just bonus for me."
Croysdale began the season as center midfielder.
"But toward the end of the year, I played forward after Amanda Sprowl broke her leg in a game and needed surgery," Croysdale said. "If Amanda had been in there [at the end], I'm sure we would have been 10 times stronger."
Croysdale said the team rallied around the loss of a good player.
The loss of Sprowl "taught us that anything could happen on any day, so we have to make the best of what we had. And we did, thanks to Mr. T," Croysdale said.
williams@vindy.com