Men’s Soccer

Tiger recruit to play with PDL team this summer

DWU men’s soccer recruit Manny Paravalos will spend the summer with the Panama City Pirates, a PDL team based out of Panama City, Fla.

MITCHELL, S.D. – Coming straight out of high school, goalie Manny Paravalos already has an impressive resume.

The 6-foot goalkeeper – who has already committed to play college soccer with the Dakota Wesleyan University men’s program – was a four-year starter at J.R. Arnold High School in Panama City Beach, Fla., and he also had a successful club career throughout high school. This summer, Paravalos has the opportunity to boost his resume even before starting his college career.

Paravalos made it through the first tryout and made it through to the second trial for the Panama City Pirates, a Premier Development League soccer team based in Panama City, Fla. The future Tiger will spend the summer training with the team and possibly even competing with the team, if he is given a roster spot.

Paravalos said his club coach, Greg DeVito – who will take over coaching duties for the Pirates –  suggested he try out to gain more experience before making the transition to collegiate soccer, and Paravalos jumped at the chance.

“Tryouts were intense,” he said. “It was fun going up against keepers older than me and with more experience than me. It gave me that experience and made me push myself to play just like them.”

In high school, Paravalos recorded 10 shutouts as a sophomore and 11 more as a junior, and went 600 minutes without giving up a goal as a junior for the Marlins. He was named the MVP at several tournaments, and was also the starting goalie for the Emerald Coast United U15-U17 team and the FC Dallas-Emerald Coast team. He participated in the Disney Showcase and the State Cup in his U16, U17 and U18 years, and helped his U16 team to the round of 16.

That experience, along with a summer’s worth of competing against goalies and soccer players from all levels of college soccer, should give Paravalos the boost he needs to make an easy transition into the collegiate soccer world.

“I think (the PDL) will prepare me very well for college,” he said. “I think not only is it good practice, it’s a great experience to get out there and play with guys who have been at different levels of college soccer.”

The PDL is the amateur league of the United Soccer League in the U.S. The athletes are mainly collegiate soccer players from around the country looking to play a high level of soccer throughout the summer while still maintaining college eligibility. The Pirates are a part of the Southeast Division in the Southern Conference, and play teams from around the state of Florida.

After a summer with the Pirates, Paravalos will join Dakota Wesleyan in the fall to begin his college career. He is one of 13 signees so far for the Tiger men, and joins a team that went 9-9-1 and made it to the semifinals of the Great Plains Athletic Conference postseason tournament.