After the Whistle: Crisfield’s Conner Haynie
CRISFIELD, Md. – Conner Haynie’s soccer career didn’t start how he would have wanted.
“I tried out for a travel team, I got cut, so I just trained all summer, all year long and just work my hardest to better myself,” he recalled, “And that’s where it all started.”
Now a junior and the lone captain for Crisfield boy’s soccer, that early rejection has turned into a year-round commitment to raising his level.
Haynie knows that hard work and dedication can take him places–it’s already taken him overseas. Over the summer, Haynie earned an invitation to spend week in Madrid in a developmental program called La Liga Select.
The competition was fierce, and Haynie relished it:“The level of competition over there is definitely higher than America, in my opinion…That was probably the best experience ever. I mean, playing soccer overseas, that’s everybody’s dream, to play soccer [and] go pro. I mean, that’s always been my dream, to go pro.”
But back on his hometown pitch every fall, Haynie understands the importance of his role as captain for the Crisfield Crabbers. “Not everybody has played as long as I have. So I feel like if I’m in command, they listen to me. I love being in command all the time and just trying to ball out as much as I can.”
