Fearless in the Net
How Aiden Atisha leads from the back line
By Steve Stein
When his time comes, Aiden Atisha will be ready.
Ready to be the starting goalie for the Detroit Catholic Central High School boys soccer team next year when he’s a senior, if he’s selected. Ready to play college soccer, if he chooses to extend his career in the sport beyond high school.
The 16-year-old Commerce Township resident has all the requisite mental and physical skills needed to be a top-notch goalie. Just ask his current high school and club soccer coaches.
Mike Stratton just finished his 20th season as the head junior varsity coach at Catholic Central and 23rd year in the program. Here’s his story about Atisha:
After tryouts before this season and learning he’d be on the JV Blue team (Catholic Central’s top JV team) for the second year, instead of being depressed, “Aiden asked to talk to me,” Stratton said. “He said he wanted to be a team captain.
“Goalies need to be a leader on the field because that’s required for the position. But in all my time at Catholic Central, Aiden was one of very few goalies who was a captain of my team, and probably the only goalie who asked to be a captain.”
Atisha was the JV Blue’s team’s top goalie this fall.
The 6-foot-1, 185-pounder helped lead the Shamrocks to the Catholic League Central Division championship despite missing the last few games because of a hand injury. The team finished 11-2-3 overall and 8-1-1 in the Catholic League.
“Aiden was a great captain,” Stratton said. “He encouraged the guys, but he also reeled them in when needed. He always led the ‘1-2-3 Shamrocks’ cheer in the huddle.”
Firas Al-Samarraie will be Atisha’s coach this upcoming season with the Michigan Jaguars FC’s 2009 (birth year) team in the prestigious MLS Next Academy Division, which has 230 clubs and 25,000 players across the nation.
Al-Samarraie worked with Atisha a bit last season with another Jaguars team.
“Aiden is a brave and fearless goalie, and he has a knack for saving penalty shots,” Al-Samarraie said. “I don’t know if he uses his intuition or reads body language on PK’s, but it works.”
What’s Atisha’s secret on PKs?
“I look into the PK taker’s eyes to see where he’s looking, and dive the other way when the shot comes in,” he said.
Atisha said he doesn’t mind the inherent physicality playing goalie.
“I’m the last line of defense for my team. Everything is on me. My job is to not allow the other team to score,” he said. “I’ve been hit in the face a lot with shots, been elbowed ... if you’re not ready for that, or prepared to make split-second decisions, you shouldn’t be playing the position.”
Atisha is particularly proud of an important save he made this season vs. U-D Jesuit.
He punched a deflected shot over the net at the last second to preserve a scoreless tie in the first half. Catholic Central scored in the second half and won the key Catholic League game 1-0.
After starting to play soccer when he was 3, Atisha became a goalie about six years later.
Following his senior season at Catholic Central, he said, playing soccer in college is a possibility if the school is a fit for him athletically and academically.
The 3.8 grade-point average student is looking to go into law or business for a career.
“If Aiden decides to play in college, I’m sure he’ll find the perfect spot athletically and academically for him. He has a good head on his shoulders and he’s very personable,” Al-Samarraie said. “He makes it so easy for others to like him. He always has a smile on his face.”
Atisha is involved in several other extra-curricular activities at Catholic Central including DECA (Distributive Education Clubs of America), the Finance Club and Right to Life Club.
Noor and Dalia Atisha are Aiden’s parents. He has a sister Neveen, 23, and a brother Noah, 21. Neveen is in the five-year physician’s assistant program at the University of Detroit-Mercy. Noah is a biomedical major at Wayne State University.