Golden Jaguar International and Sporting Kansas City II midfielder Curtez Kellman, recently concluded his maiden campaign in the Major League Soccer (MLS) Next Pro League, the third tier of US Soccer and has described the tournament as highly competitive given the quality of the players.
This was stated during an exclusive interview with Stabroek Sport yesterday. According to Kellman, “I think there’s a lot of quality and high standard in the league, especially with teams bringing down players from the first team to compete each week. And with those players coming from the first team to play, they make the standard of the game higher, more quality, and the game be much more competitive.”
He added, “So going into each game, as a player, you need to be focused mentally and bring your best performance each game because each team is coming to compete and working towards getting a positive result. I think this league is a great platform for players locally to get their feet wet in and play at a next level.”
Sporting Kansas City II finished 9th in the Western Conference. Kellman, who signed for Sporting Kansas on February 28th, featured in 19 matches of the 24 fixture competition, of which 12 were starts. He logged an impressive 1075 minutes, and completed 90 minutes on seven occasions.
Although the midfielder did not register any goals or assists during the campaign, the former Eastern Florida State and Daytona State standout also recorded 417 from an attempted 483 passes at a conversion rate of 86.3%, alongside 17 tackles.
The former Georgetown Football Club, and Western Tigers player confessed that playing professionally was his primary ambition following his departure from the collegiate system, adding that following a slow start owing to a period of adaptation, he was able to finish the competition strongly which bodes well for his future in the event.
He explained, “Playing professionally was always my aim and after completing my first year at this level, I think that I had a good season. Obviously there’s room for improvements but I definitely saw growth and a massive improvement within my game. In order to play I needed to be consistent in my performances. After a slow start and gradually adapting to the level, my main goal was to be consistent, which I worked hard to achieve and that led to me finishing strong and having a good season.”
According to Kellman, the objective of his sophomore season is to continue improving every facet of the his game so that he can realise his dream of playing in the MLS which is the premier division of US Soccer, adding, “Like I said there’s always room for improvement, and I think as a player I can work on my awareness, making better decision on the ball and work harder as a player in general.”
