Crushing opposing players on the field and being a force in the classroom; these are just some of the amazing feats of former Wayne Valley boys soccer captain Dean Ibraimi. Ibraimi is a first-year student at FDU Florham and is majoring in finance. He is also the starting Center Defensive Midfielder for the boy’s soccer team. In his first year at FDU Florham, Ibraimi started 17 out of 18 games recording 9 shots and 1 shot on goal (which is impressive as a defensive player). His feats aren’t limited to just the field, he finished his first semester of college with a 3.5 GPA and is excited to continue thriving.
Ibraimi sees soccer as something that can teach him life lessons, while giving him guidance and experience. Ibraimi started playing soccer for PAL’s rec league when he was 4 years old. Ibraimi stated, “After 5th grade, I was certain that soccer was my passion.” Ibraimi was brought up to JV as a freshman and started for Varsity his sophomore year. When asked how he felt about starting varsity for the first time, Ibraimi responded: “I was both excited and nervous, but I felt that it should’ve happened earlier.” In Ibraimi’s senior season at Wayne Valley, he made headlines for all county boys’ best players in NJ, and was honorable mention for player of the week. Ibraimi recorded 1 goal and 1 assist as a center-back and as captain, he led his team to an over .500 record. He took the team to the County Finals and First Round of the NJSIAA Tournament. Ibraimi took his responsibilities as captain seriously, stating: “I tried to mentor the incoming freshmen while I was a senior and I helped organize the captain practices in the summer.” Ibraimi wanted the younger players to find the team a space where they could feel safe and bond with their teammates.
In college, Ibraimi is pursuing a major in finance and a minor in computer science. Even though Ibraimi continues playing soccer in college, it isn’t his main priority. Ibraimi stated, “I don’t think that I can play at a high professional level, so I would rather try to find a job that uses my major or minor.” During his time at Wayne Valley, Ibraami was an Honor Roll student and is held in high praise by his many teachers. Ibraami mentioned the struggle some face juggling academics and athletics. His advice is: “Make sure you know your limits and try to balance your training and school work.” Ibraimi details the importance of balancing academics and athletics because you can’t have success in both fields without good time management.
Ibrahim hopes that he will leave an impression as somebody friendly to all and a force on the field. He plans on finishing school and getting a degree in finance.