Isaac Katz of Central (left) and Brysen Kraft of Seymour (right) are both headed to the Naval Academy after high school. They don’t know each other yet. But they’ll meet on the soccer pitch Thursday, April 6, 2023.
BY DAVE LINK
Brysen Kraft and Isaac Katz will be on opposites sides of the soccer pitch at Seymour High School on Thursday night.
Kraft is a senior at Seymour.
Katz is a senior at Central.
The two players don’t know each other – not yet anyway – but will become teammates later this year.
Not on a soccer team.
At the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.
“First and foremost, both of them are selfless young men,” said Central boys’ soccer coach Chris Quinn, who’s coached Katz at Central and Kraft at Blount United Soccer Club.
Quinn is an Army veteran, having served in Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in 2002.
“The years of commitment they’re willing to give to their country is impressive,” he said, “especially in the environment we’re in now where patriotism is not where it used to be. I’m proud to have coached both of them.”
Their soccer days may be coming to an end, although Katz is considering walking on at Navy, an NCAA Division I program, or playing intramural soccer.
Neither player is looking back. It’s onward and upward at Navy.
KRAFT: “IT’S BEEN MY DREAM”
Kraft has played soccer for most of his life, and his senior season at Seymour is bittersweet.
“I’ve made my best friends through soccer,” he said. “It’s a little sad for it being the last year, but I’m looking forward to what I get to do afterwards.”
He’s wanted to go into the Air Force or Naval Academy since about his eighth-grade year, and last year took a couple of decisive trips.
Kraft visited Annapolis from June 18-23 for the Naval Academy Summer Seminar and took another visit for a couple of days in October.
“That really solidified my thought process, of yes, this is definitely where I want to go,” he said.
After getting his acceptance notice in December, Kraft committed to Navy a week later, signing up for a demanding, rigorous lifestyle of military service.
Bryson Kraft of Seymour.
And he knows it.
“When I was younger, I would say it was more the idea of being able to go and study aeronautical engineering and have the chance to be an officer as a pilot,” Kraft said.
“I guess as I got older and I got to see more of the military side of lifestyle that they lived and how they pushed themselves and pushed each other and how they grow to get better as people, that really just inspired me as like, ‘Yeah, I definitely want to be a part of that.’”
His path to becoming a pilot is a challenge.
After four years of undergraduate study, Kraft must pass two years of flight school before serving eight years of active duty flying.
“It’s been my dream since I was about 7,” Kraft said of becoming a pilot.
One requirement for Kraft in his first year at Navy is for him to play a sport.
Intramural soccer, right?
Nope. Kraft said every midshipman has a chance to learn to sail during basic training, and he’s going take it – then perhaps try out for Navy’s sailing team.
“I kind of want to do something I’ve not done before to learn something new,” he said.
KATZ: “GOING TO BE WORTH IT”
Katz has always been interested in military service.
He got serious about it during his sophomore year, thinking of the Special Forces, then the Army and then the Navy Seals.
Now, he’s got something else in mind.
“While my interest could change while I’m at the Academy,” Katz said, “what I’m going to attempt to get into is nuclear engineering, and then nuclear energy after the Academy.”
Katz applied to the Naval Academy in the spring of last year and attended the Naval Academy Summer Seminar in June, at the same
Isaac Katz of Central.
time Kraft was there.
After getting accepted, Katz committed to Navy on March 10.
He’s motivated by what’s ahead: four years to get his degree in nuclear engineering and five years of Navy service obligation – then the opportunity to re-commission or get out of the Navy and work in the private sector.
“The Naval Academy is one of the top schools in America,” Katz said. “It’s difficult. I know I’m going to get a top-rate education from it, and the sense of accomplishment that I will get while I’m at the Academy and during the whole application process.
“It’s just knowing (Navy) would really set me up and help me further become a contributing member to society and to America and even just help me further become a man, honestly, at the Naval Academy. It’s going to be worth it.”
Katz never considered playing college soccer until signing on with Navy.
He’s talked to the coach about being a walk-on with Navy’s varsity team.
“I’m not the best in the world at soccer, but I’m not terrible either, so I’ve got a good measure of talent,” Katz said. “I feel like I maybe would have squandered some talent if I didn’t end up playing again.”
Regardless, soccer has been good to him.
“I’ve met some of the most incredible people playing,” Katz said, “and had some of the best mentors who have taught me a lot of things about being a good person, just being a quality human being.”