Greenbrier East senior soccer star Matthew Cook is full of confidence, while also remaining humble. He has many expectations for himself and his team, also while understanding that sometimes those do not all happen as he hopes.
Cook started playing soccer when he was about six years old. It was not really something he chose per se’, but more like the sport chose him.
“There isn’t a real reason I chose soccer. I was always outside and running so soccer seemed like a good fit,” Cook said.
Cook has so many goals for his team that sometimes he may get too caught up in them when they do not get met.
“My personal goals include making first-team all-state again. Personally, I think I’ve played better than I have last year but still not up to the standards I’ve set for myself. As a team I couldn’t be prouder, the boys this year have shown how bad they want a state championship and everyone fully believes we are more than capable of winning it,” Cook stated.
“A negative, though, is how many goals we’ve conceded so far as we’ve given up way too many and, I fully believe no one we’ve played should have scored on us,” he said thoroughly.
A lot of Cook’s confidence comes from his head coach Lucas Lemine.
“Coach Lemine has taught me how to be a man and how to approach the game with the right mentality; To respect everyone but fear no one. He’s given me so much confidence in myself and he’s been a source of motivation for me both on and off the field,” Cook said of his coach.
To reach the state tournament, which the Spartans have a legitimate chance of doing, Cook says his teammates need the confidence in themselves that his coach has instilled in him.
“We need everyone to be confident in themselves. They believe in the team but don’t believe in themselves. If we play the way we can play and to our full ability, no one can match us.
Having no problem with motivation, Cook has some pregame rituals he tends to stick to each game.
“I always listen to music either in the locker room or on the bus to a game, I try to be as cool and calm as possible, and I always tape my left wrist, and I write my girl’s initials on there,” Cook said.
Cook will remember a lot about his time at East, but there will always be a few that stand out above the rest.
“As a senior, some of my best memories are when I was a freshman or sophomore and interacting and looking up to the seniors then. I watched them and how they handled themselves both on and off the field, I had two I really looked up to in Chase Circle and Ian McManamay. Some other memories include going to Coach’s house the night before a game, stopping at a restaurant after away games and eating as a team, and staying in a hotel for an overnight trip as a team,” Cook stated.
“My personal favorite memory is when we lost to George Washington in regionals sophomore year and I was talking to coach after the game. I told him I’m ready to start working for next season and he told me two weeks then we get to work,” Cook concluded.
At the time of this write-up, Cook had three goals on the season, 12 shots and seven shots on target. His shot on target percentage is 58.3 percent.
His contributions to the team are endless and go far beyond just stats, however.
