Great Neck North High School senior Erik Reiss was one of three Long Island soccer players to be placed last week on the National Soccer Coaches Association of America All-American list.
“I couldn’t believe it,” Reiss said. “I never really imagined I could be an All-American. In the past I’ve seen All-Americans and they all went to play at Division I colleges, so it was kind of a surreal moment.”
Reiss was among 56 players to be put on the list.
Great Neck North boys varsity soccer coach Kiernan Griffin praised Reiss’ skills.
“In my 20 years of coaching he’s the most technical player I’ve ever had,” Griffin said. “He not only has the ability to control the ball differently than your average high school kid but he plays with tremendous speed.”
Griffin said no matter where Reiss is on the field or what position he is playing, he always has a member from the opposite team that has to guard him the whole game.
“Regardless of where he was on the field he was a threat to score,” Griffin said. “He has the ability to create out of nothing.”
Griffin noted that Reiss has been named Nassau County Player of the Year, has qualified for all-state soccer and that he is one of the most dangerous players on the field.
Reiss said he did not think he was going to be an All-American because he doesn’t have spectacular statistics – nine goals and six assists last season. Most All-Americans, he said, are well into the two-digit range in goals.
He said what distinguishes him from most players is his quickness, which makes him hard to defend.
He said having another player guarding him at all times does not necessarily make him into a better player, but it does show him that he is playing well.
Reiss is not a captain even though he is a senior, as he spent his junior year playing academy soccer at Blau Weiss Gottschee, and Griffin picks captains one season prior.
Griffin said the year he spent away playing at Blau Weiss Gottschee made him “hungry.”
Reiss said his year playing for Blau Weiss Gottschee also sharpened his skills.
The academy teams, he said, are the best in the country, traveling as far as Canada to play against the best competition.
“The main thing about the academy is when you join, it’s almost professional in the way you dedicate all your time to soccer,” Reiss said.
Reiss said that while at the academy he would get only one, maybe two, days off a week between practices and games.
The increased focus on soccer in his life made him start to burn out on the sport, he said.
“I felt like a lot of other kids either were really good at soccer or really good academically and I’ve been able to maintain both,” Reiss said.
He said he came back to play for Great Neck North his senior year so he could focus on academics as well as play alongside his friends.
“I really missed high school soccer and playing with kids you know,” Reiss said. “Getting to play soccer alongside your friends in school is unlike any other experience.”
Great Neck North principal Bernard Kaplan said Reiss is an exceptional kid off the field as well.
“He’s a wonderful young man,” Kaplan said. “He’s a very academic student and is very humble.”
Griffin, who is also an English teacher at Great Neck North, said he has had Reiss in class, and said he has tremendous passion not only about soccer but about academics.
Reiss was accepted early to Duke University purely on his academic record, he said. Reiss said he is not sure whether he wants to pursue soccer in college.
