Jesse Derksen earns spot on Olympic Development Program Select Team

When the call first went out for goalies, there were no takers.  The elementary school kids were much more interested in scoring goals than preventing them.

So the coach had to sweeten the offer and provide something extra to go with the playing time.

He told the players that the goalie didn’t have to run.

Jesse Derksen raised his hand.

“I decided to give it a try,” Derksen said. “Afterward the coach told me that I did well, and I decided to stay there.”

Derksen isn’t planning on leaving, either.

The Susquehannock High School sophomore found a home between the posts.

Derksen allowed just two goals in regular-season league games this past fall to help the Warriors win their third straight York-Adams League Division I title.

“It was a good year,” Derksen said. “We had three new defenders come in, three sophomores, so we’re definitely going to be a strong team again next year.”

When Susquehannock’s season came to a close, Derk-
sen didn’t put his goalie gloves in a drawer. He switched to his club team, Super Nova FC of Harrisburg. Derksen’s play with Super Nova earned him acclaim far beyond York and Adams counties. He gained praise from two national soccer organizations, USA Soccer and the United Soccer League.

The Glen Rock-area resident recently returned from Cocoa, Fla., where he competed against players from throughout the country at the Olympic Development Program National Camp. When the camp concluded, 18 players, including two goalies, were picked for the Olympic Development Program Select Team. Derksen was one of the 18 to be named to the elite team in the Boys’ 15 Division.

“When I found out that I made the team, it kind of overwhelmed me at first,” he said. “But then I felt it was a reward I earned because I’ve worked really hard. I practice with my club team in the offseason, and there is a lot of travel involved in going to different events.”

According to the United Soccer Leagues Web site, the select team players will be recommended to the national team staff and may be involved in future domestic and international events.

“The competition was a lot higher down there (Florida) than in high school, but you’re always going to have better players there because they’re from all over the country,” Derksen said. “It took a little bit of time to get comfortable working with all the different people.”

Derksen found his comfort zone and impressed the coaches with his technique and decision making.

“Reading the game is so important in goal. You have to know when to come out and when to stay in. When you want to distribute the ball by throwing it or by kicking it long. And you have to always maintain your focus no matter where the action is. Making the save is about 20 percent of what you do.”

Derksen could be making saves for a U.S. national team in an international game some day. He’s one step away from the full Boys’ 15 national team in both sponsoring organizations. And, Derksen still has two more seasons with Susquehannock.

After that?

“I’m hoping to get scholarship to (the University of California at Santa Barbara) and look to play professional after that,” he said. “I want to study marine biology, and they have one of the best marine biology facilities in the country and a great soccer team (the Gauchos were the 14th-ranked Division I team in the country last season).”

Derksen has come a long way from the youngster who wasn’t sure he wanted to be a goalie.

He’s now a mature teenager who’s aiming to play the position at the highest levels.

-- Reach Dick VanOlinda at dvanolinda@yorkdispatch.com or at 505-5407