WPIAL Alum Q&A – Ryan Sproule

By: HSSN Staff
Monday, September 19, 2016 | 3:11 PM

At Central Catholic High School, Ryan Sproule may be best remembered for his contributions to the Vikings in capturing the 2015 WPIAL baseball championship, the first in team history. It was on the pitch, though, that Sproule continued his athletic career

Washington University in St. Louis. Just a sophomore in college, Sproule already is one of the top performers on his team. As such, he’s featured on this week’s installment of WPIAL Alum Q&A.

At Central Catholic, Sproule was a three-sport athlete, including basketball, but he truly excelled at soccer and baseball. In soccer, Sproule was a two-time all-section performer, netting 49 career goals, including a record 31 during his senior campaign in 2014. The Vikings finished third in the Class AAA playoffs, falling to eventual champion Peters Township in the semifinals. Central Catholic also won a state postseason came, before falling to Peters Township again.

On the diamond, Sproule was an outfielder and all-conference selection for the Vikings. In 2015, the team enjoyed an improbable run to the title, as the Vikings rallied for a comeback victory in the first round, and then scored a pair of upsets to make it to the finals. At Consol Energy Park, Central Catholic shut out Norwin 2-0 to claim the gold.

After initially anticipating playing baseball in college, Sproule changed his path, and joined the soccer program at Washington University in St. Louis. The forward wasted no time in making an impact, as he scored a team-best seven goals, as well as two assists. The Bears compiled a record of 12-4-4 in 2015, but the season came to a disappointing conclusion courtesy of a shootout loss in the second round of the NCAA Division III Championship.

This campaign, Sproule has already netted three goals and two assists in just four games, all wins for 17th-ranked WUSTL. The Bears notched a 4-0 victory over No. 16 Luther yesterday, with Sproule picking up a goal and an assist.

Ryan set aside time from his soccer and academic schedules to answer some questions about his decision to play soccer instead of baseball, his favorite high school memory, and what food he could eat every day.

Q: As a freshman, you led the team in goals, and were near the top in points, as well. What was the key for your immediate success?

A: I think the key to my immediate success was a combination of the confidence I had in my own ability, along with being accepted so quickly by my new teammates, that made me look a whole lot better than I actually am.

Q: What was the most difficult transition from high school to college soccer?

A: The hardest transition from high-school soccer to college soccer for me was probably the general speed of the game; decisions have to be much faster, which was difficult to adjust to.

Q: Your team had an impressive record last campaign before losing by shootout in the second round of the Division III tournament. How would you evaluate your team’s performance last year?

A: I thought overall our performance last year was pretty solid, although we did drop games that we shouldn’t have, and I think that’s the biggest focus early on this year trying to treat each game the same.

Q: What goals have you set, both as a team and an individual, for the 2016 season?

A: As a team, like always, we strive to win the UAA and make a deep run into the tournament, and this year we really believe that we have the depth and talent to make some serious noise. For me personally, I just hope to improve on my performance from last year.

Q: What are some of your favorite or most important training methods, both during the season and in the offseason?

A: My training methods are top secret; all I can disclose is that this God-like figure isn’t earned sitting on the couch.

Q: What led to your decision to attend WUSTL?

A: I chose Wash U mainly for the academics, as I am a scholar at heart, but also because it gives me a good balance between soccer and everything else that is the college experience.

Q: You had some incredible accomplishments at Central Catholic, both in soccer and baseball. What was your favorite high-school memory?

A: My favorite high-school memory was probably winning the WPIAL in baseball in my final campaign as a HS athlete.

Q: Do you still find time to play any baseball, and did you give any consideration to playing that sport in college instead?

A: Baseball was always my primary sport growing up and it wasn’t till late in the whole recruiting process that I decided to go for soccer instead of baseball. I really haven’t had the opportunity to do anything baseball related for quite a while, but I definitely miss it sometimes.

Q: Have you been able to still follow Central Catholic’s athletic teams, or stay in close contact with any former coaches or teammates?

A: Yes, I actually got a chance to play some pickup with some of the guys I graduated with along with some of the younger guys at some soccer workouts over the summer, which was a lot of fun. And I am still very close with a lot of my teammates from all my teams and we got a couple opportunities to hang out over the summer.

Q: What is your major and ideal profession?

A: I am a Computer Science major, but I really have no idea what I want to after school in the job world.

Q: What is the biggest difference you noticed between living in St. Louis compared to Pittsburgh?

A: I don’t really notice a whole lot of differences between Pittsburgh and St Louis, just that its way more humid down here, which makes preseason pretty miserable.

Q:What is your favorite music genre or artist?

A: I’m a big hip hop fan but I also like some saucy EDM here and there, but recently I’ve been jamming to some classic rock and the likes.

Q: What is the best way to spend free time?

A: Cracking humes with the lads.

Q: What food could you eat every single day?

A: I could eat ribs every day until I die, which wouldn’t be long, but still.