Jasper Yang's Interview with CoSIDA
Academic All-America® Teams

GRINNELL, Iowa –Jasper Yang '22 has deservedly reaped many awards during his unprecedented men's soccer career at Grinnell College.
 
But perhaps the biggest comes today. Not only did Yang repeat as a College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Academic All-America® Division III first-team selection, BUT he was also voted Team Member of the Year, emerging atop a field that includes more than 25,000 men who play soccer at the D-III level.
 
Yang is just the fourth Grinnell student-athlete to be named Team Member of the Year (the other three were in basketball) and the first since Steve Diekmann won the award in 1995.
 
"It's a huge honor," said Yang. "Obviously, team awards always come first in sports, but I have dedicated a lot to athletics and academics over the past four and a half years, so it's really special to be recognized for that."
 
Additionally, Yang is the only Grinnell student-athlete to be named Academic All-America® three times (he was a third-teamer in 2019).
 
After scoring four goals as a first-year, Yang boosted those totals to 12 each of the next two and 24 in 2021. "One of the most difficult aspects of the transition to college soccer for me was the physicality," he explained. "I've focused on improving my strength and fitness every year, and I entered this season in the best overall shape of my life. Other than that, I've tried to work on everything from my first touch to finishing as much as possible. I played outside back my first year before moving up the field to forward, so a lot of finishing and positioning work went into that behind the scenes."
 
As his skills grew over time, so did Yang's leadership role on the team. "As a first-year player, I developed a great deal of respect for the captains and upperclassmen leaders, happily following their lead as a new member of the team," he said. "As I gained more experience, I started to step up more in leadership situations and tried to emulate them in doing so. Over the course of my three years as captain, my main mission on the field was to bring energy and enthusiasm every single day. Off the field, I have worked to be a mentor for the underclassmen while upholding our team values of accountability, kindness and communication. Ultimately, my goal as a leader has been to contribute to our positive team culture and make sure that it sticks around for years to come."
 
Yang, the Midwest Conference Offensive Player of the Year, ranked second nationally in game-winning goals (eight), total goals (24) and total points (54), third in goals per game (1.26), fourth in points per game (2.84) and ninth in shot accuracy (.679) while leading the MWC in all of those categories. In 2021, he established school records for points, game-winning goals and shots on goal (53) while also tying the school mark for assists in a game (four).
 
All of those accolades came after the Pioneers missed last season due to COVID-19. But Yang didn't let that stoppage in play be a deterrent. "I was lucky enough to live in Grinnell with a bunch of my teammates for the majority of last year, so we trained together almost every day," he said. "We played lots of small-sided games, soccer tennis and worked out together which was really unifying and helped keep us sharp in the absence of formal practices. When I went home for the summer, I played in every local pick-up game that I could. By the time we returned to the field this fall, I felt like I had really improved and was excited to see the work pay off."
 
Missing the 2020 campaign did provide Yang a perspective he didn't have prior to COVID-19. "The pandemic led to my first year without organized soccer since I was 4 years old," he said. "While I enjoyed training informally and playing pick-up, nothing could replace the feeling of playing competitive soccer with my teammates. I think our whole team felt the same way, and we showed up to preseason this fall with a special buzz. Realizing that our season could end at any point due to COVID-19, we approached every day like it might be our last together, and I think that was a big part of our success this year."
 
Yang, a biology major with a grade point averaging pushing 4.00, was able to successfully blend academics and athletics. "One of the things I appreciate the most about our team is that we all take academics extremely seriously, and our leaders and coaches will be the first to say that," he said. "Balancing soccer and schoolwork at Grinnell definitely takes some getting used to, but being on the team provides a supportive group of friends, mentors and coaches right away who are committed to holding each other accountable inside and outside of the classroom. Still, doing homework on bus rides, in hotel rooms and late at night on campus is part of the Grinnell soccer experience. It wasn't always easy, but I will look back at these moments fondly because we were together as a team during so many of them."
 
He added that athletics and academics can actually complement each other. "Really, I feel like playing a sport enhanced my performance in the classroom because it taught me how to manage my time and motivate myself while also providing two or more hours a day where my mind could be completely free from academic stress," he said. "Even more, my mental approach to tests is very similar to my mental approach to games. This is part of the reason why I really enjoy taking tests, and developing preparation strategies contributed to my growth in both areas."
 
Someone who appreciates Yang's contributions as much as anyone is Pioneer head men's soccer coach Brian Jaworski, who offered plenty of praise to his senior leader: "Congratulations Jasper!!!  I am so thankful for the incredible awards and recognition you are receiving because you are the best of the best. You are a self-made champion and this incredibly special CoSIDA award highlights your commitment to excellence both on and off the field, the once-in-a-lifetime season you had playing with teammates you cared about deeply and the overall success your team had with you as one of the captains. Once again, congratulations. Please know that all your teammates, student manager, coaches and SID know how deserving you are of this special recognition."
 
Yang will finish up his Grinnell College education this month, and is looking forward to the next step of his journey. "I am currently applying to graduate programs in biostatistics, which is a combination of my joint interests in biology, statistics and public health," he explained. "I hope to eventually become a research scientist who harnesses data to answer impactful questions in public health. I also intend to keep playing soccer for as long as I can and then turn to coaching when my time is done."