Name: Peppe Mini
High School: Williams Valley
Grade: 12
Sport: Boys’ soccer
Age: 17
Hometown: Tower City
Family: Parents, Rosa and Joe; sister, Val.
Accomplishments: Scored five of his team’s six goals in the last four games, assuring Williams Valley’s spot in the District 11 Class A playoffs. One of those goals came from a free kick and two from penalty kicks. Mini is the third-highest goal-scorer in the area this season with 28.
Athletes I admire: Kobe Bryant, Clint Dempsey.
Favorite sports teams: Los Angeles Lakers, U.S. Men’s National Team (soccer), Philadephia Union.
What age did you start playing soccer?: “Probably around 4.”
Talk about qualifying for districts with such a young team this year: “I knew going into the year it would be tough. We had to mold the younger guys to get them going to what it takes to win. We have a lot of freshmen and sophomores who never played varsity before, so me and the rest of the seniors had to instill in them the winning attitude to make districts.”
How do you deal with the pressure of taking penalty kicks?: “Honestly, I embrace it. I love having the pressure of either putting us ahead or having the pressure of missing.”
What’s your process for taking a free kick in scoring range?: “It’s something that I work on at practice, so when you work on it a lot, you get very confident. My coaches have the confidence in me to make the free kick, so it makes me confident as well.”
Do you have a favorite goal celebration?: “Whoever gave me the assist, I just love celebrating with them. It was pretty much because of them, so I like celebrating with them.”
Individual goals for the season: Lead the league in points and make some postseason all-star teams.
What are your plans after high school?: Get a degree in business, school undecided.
Past winners
Sept. 16 — Cam Greenawalt, Blue Mountain, boys’ soccer
Sept. 23 — Abby Stankiewitch, Marian, girls’ volleyball
Sept. 30 — Dylan Bucior, Jim Thorpe, cross country
Oct. 6 — Tanner Cook, Blue Mountain, golf