Perry senior midfielder David Cardenas signed a national letter of intent Monday morning to play soccer at Grandview University in Des Moines. Cardenas has been a four year starter for the Perry soccer program and says it’s a dream come true to take his soccer ability to the next level.
“My brother played college soccer at a community college so I remember telling myself that is something that I always wanted,” stated Cardenas. I envisioned this moment and spent years looking ahead and figuring out what I needed to do to improve. Last year, when my former teammate Oscar signed a letter of intent with Clarke, it became reality to me that this was an attainable goal for me if I put in the hard work.”
Cardenas leads Perry with 36 points this season including 13 goals and 10 assists through 14 games. Loras, Wartburg and Clarke were just a few of the colleges who were eager to gain Cardenas skills.
“The main reason I chose Grandview was because of their head coach Blair Reed. I felt comfortable with him from the initial conversation. What stood out to me were his realistic, non-comforting words. He warned me that it was going to be a tough road and that I wouldn’t jump right in and play. He told me that I wasn’t going to be the type of soccer player I was at Perry and how difficult the college game is. I appreciated his honesty and I wanted to arrive at a university as an anonymous player who earned his playing time and worked his way into a starting role.”
Perry just captured their 6th Raccoon River Conference championship this season and is coming off back to back state tournament appearances and Head Coach Gary Overla says Cardenas has been a big reason for the surge in Perry soccer.
“David has been a big part of our midfield the past 4 seasons. He is the type of guy that can be a leader both on and off the field. He calms our guys down when the moment arises and is a solid leader during the tense moments. We run a lot of the offense through him and he has really stepped up as the go to guy this year. I am proud of him and know he will do well next season.”
Grandview plays their home games at Cownie Soccer Complex in Des Moines, ironically the annual host for the boy’s state soccer tournament in Iowa.