Extra Effort: Max Garro's soccer IQ gives Wakefield an edge
Soccer is a game played with your feet, but it's often won with your head. At Wakefield High School, center back Max Garro is the brains behind the operation.
"What Max has that separates him from a lot of players is he has awesome soccer IQ," Wakefield head coach Tony Calabria said. "He just gets the game."
Garro has a knack for always being in the right place. A skill he credits to his experience of playing the game since he was three. He also isn't shy about telling younger players where they need to be either or directing traffic in front of him.
"I get to see the whole field so I can communicate to center midfielders and strikers," Garro said. "I get to see what they don't see."
Turns out the soccer IQ translates to the classroom as well. Garro has a 4.5 GPA. He hopes to study engineering at a college like NC State or Clemson.
"I make sure school always comes before soccer," Garro said. "Anything before or after practice, I'm just always making sure I get my school work done."
Garro's intelligence has been instrumental in getting the best out of this year's team, but it also helps that they are all extremely close.
"You have that sort of team camaraderie and you put it together with talent, it's a beautiful recipe," Calabria said.
The Wolverines are currently having one of their best seasons in school history.
"Everyone is just buying into it and putting as much effort into it as they think they can," Garro said.
Garro's work on the field and in the classroom earned him WRAL's Tom Suiter Extra Effort award, but the way this season is shaping out that trophy might be just the beginning.
"He deserves this award for simple reasons," Calabria said. "One is he's a great team player. There's nothing that makes a coach happier than a good teammate. He's a great team player, he has an unbelievable GPA, he helps the guys in study hall...then on the soccer field he's directing traffic it makes it fun. When you have someone you respect whether its a player, a parent, a teacher you always want to do more for them. That's what it is with Max."
