Timberlane's Patten named scholar All-American

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December 13, 2010

Timberlane's Patten named scholar All-American

The Eagle Tribune Mon Dec 13, 2010, 02:11 AM EST

Joshua Patten, a senior captain on this year's Timberlane boy's soccer team, has been named a Scholar All-American by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America.

Patten is the first Timberlane soccer player ever to earn this honor, and joins three dozen other scholar athletes from across the country who were also honored. He is the only student from New Hampshire to earn this distinction, and one of only two from northern New England.

Patten has been invited to an awards ceremony at the NSCAA convention in Baltimore this coming January. Earlier this month, Patten was an honorable mention All-State selection, and has been chosen for the Lion's Cup team that will match New Hampshire's best against those from Vermont next July.

Patten, who has a 3.8 GPA, was informed of the honor while attending the United States Soccer Federation's Development Academy Showcase in Phoenix Ariz.

Attendance at the academy is an honor in itself, as it brings together the top youth players from across the country for a week of training with members of the US Soccer program's national coaching staff, including former US National team player Claudio Reyna.

Also in attendance at the academy are college coaches from across the country and representatives from most of the major football clubs of Europe and across the world.

Discussing the honor, Patten said, "I put my best effort into both the classroom and the playing field. I had the goal going into this season to make All-State, and this makes all the hard work worthwhile. I think it's great to recognize both academics and athletics at the same time.

"Often, academics gets put aside, and it's nice that they recognize those student-athletes who do both well. "The Academy was a tremendous level of play. It was a jump from any soccer I had ever played at the club level, and having the chance of to play with some of the best players in the country was a great experience. "

Timberlane coach Bill Mealey said that Patten was highly deserving.

"Josh has been a terrific leader on and off the field for both our team and the whole school," said Mealey. "He is a member of the athletic leadership committee, and volunteers his time to support many causes, including refereeing recreational soccer in his home town.

"This past season, he had nine assists on the sixteen goals scored during the run of play, which is quite an accomplishment for an outside defender. Josh is on more honor societies than I can count, and he is the best player ever to walk the halls here at Timberlane.

"This year, I was able to design our defense almost completely around Josh, and we cut our goals-against by a third. He was a major reason we were able to make the state tournament his junior and senior seasons."

Patten is unclear as to his college plans at this time. With an eye towards a major in engineering, he is considering Clarkson, UMass Amherst, and RPI among others. He is the son of Jeffrey and Deborah Patten of Sandown.

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