Selfless success
Polson alumni named 2nd team All-American
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All Andy Manley focused on this season was taking his North Central University team to the National Championship Tournament. The selfless junior focused on helping his team instead of winning personal awards, which in the end helped him be named to the second-team All-American team earlier this month.
“I focused less on awards,” Andy said. “I knew this was one of my last seasons, so I just wanted to win, and did anything I could to help my team win.”
The Polson graduate has been playing since he was in first grade, but says he became enthralled with soccer after playing under Jess Kittle in high school.
“Jess is probably the biggest impact on my career,” Andy said. “He had confidence in me on and off the field.”
After leaving Polson, the young athlete attended Olympic College in Bremerton, Wash., for two years before red-shirting as a junior and transferring to North Central University in Minneapolis, Minn. North Central is a NCAA Division III school in the National Christian College Athletic Association.
In November, NCU won its regional tournament in Winnipeg, Canada, where Andy was named to the All-Regional team and runner-up for most valuable player. With the team’s success, NCU got an automatic berth to their first-ever trip to the National Championship Tournament in Orlando, Fla; where they finished seventh overall.
It was during the team’s annual awards banquet that Andy was named as one of the second team All-Americans.
“It was exciting,” he said. “I didn’t know I was going to get it.”
“It’s a dream for a father,” Andy’s father Jim Manley said. “It’s been a lot of fun for a dad.”
With one year of eligibility remaining, Andy’s goals for the upcoming season are to go into the season with a winning mindset, and to be the team leader.
He also wants to finish at least fourth place in the National Championship Tournament this upcoming season.
