Bishop Gorman's Sid Cleofe signs with UT Tyler for soccer.

Sid Cleofe was born and raised in Tyler.

He said that made it an easy choice to remain in Tyler to play his collegiate soccer.

The senior at Bishop Thomas K. Gorman Catholic School signed his national letter of intent on Friday morning to play soccer at UT Tyler.

“I’ve always been in Tyler and know the community very well,” Cleofe said. “Having the ability to get my family and friends that have supported me to be able to come out and watch me play at the next level, that really brought me to want to go to UT Tyler.”

Cleofe said it hasn’t always been easy for people locally to watch his games since he often traveled to Dallas to compete for his club team, FC Dallas East Texas.

“Being able to play in front of the people that haven’t been able to watch me before is exciting,” he said.

Cleofe also runs cross country, competes in track and field and plays basketball for the Crusaders.

Cleofe averaged 17 points, six assists, four rebounds and three steals per game last year to earn All-East Texas honors.

Since basketball season and soccer season overlap, Cleofe said he was unable to play soccer for his school, but he knew soccer would be what he would pursue at the next level.

“Soccer was always a different environment,” he said. “I love basketball, but soccer was just different. And being as small as I am, I know basketball was going to be hard for me to get to the next level.”

Cleofe is a midfielder, and one of his former coaches, Jeremey Bernard, said UT Tyler is getting a solid player.

“UT Tyler is getting a great athlete,” Bernard said. “Sid always worked hard and had a great attitude during training and games. He’s going to be a big impact player for UT Tyler in the future.”

Cleofe said he is excited about joining the Patriots after the recently been accepted as full-fledged NCAA Division II members.

During his ceremony, Cleofe gave a speech and thanked many people, including his parents and sister.

“First off, I want to thank my family,” Cleofe said. “Dad, you were the person that first put that soccer ball at my feet. Before coming to the US, you barely knew what soccer was, but you asked around and researched what sports a 4-year-old could play. To our luck, soccer was one of the only ones, but you didn’t stop there. As I grew older and the competition started to increase, you went out of your way to go watch the older age groups and copy their drills to bring back to me. Even today, you work the night shift and lose countless hours of sleep just to get me to that 8 a.m. game in Dallas.

“Mom, you were always my number one fan. You were always the loudest to either cheer my team on or to complain to the ref. Either way, you were always there for me, cheering me up when we lost a game or telling me that I just didn’t play good enough and to do better in the next one. You guys sacrificed a whole lot of time and money just to make me happy. Thank you.

“Kate, you probably don’t think you played that big a role in my life, but you sure did. There are so many parties, sleepovers, practices and games that you had to miss just to watch me play. Tagging along with mom, you were always encouraging me to do better as both an athlete and a big brother. You guys stuck with me through the ups and downs. Without y’all, this would have never happen, so thank you and I love y’all.”

Cleofe said he plans to major in kinesiology.

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