The Ashland University men's soccer team officially signed its newest player on Monday (Sept. 16) night.
The Eagles welcomed Jagger Shaw to the team at a special Draft Day announcement in Ashland University's Troop Center VIP Room where he signed his official Letter of Intent to join the Eagles.
Jagger comes to the Eagles from Team Impact, which is a national nonprofit that connects children facing serious and chronic illnesses with local college athletic teams, forming life-long bonds and life-changing outcomes.
Jagger, from Mansfield, Ohio, lists the one word that describes him as "strong," was joined by his mom, Lacey, at the Draft Day, and was surrounded by the AU men's soccer players and coaches.
Jagger's leadership team, juniors Justin Libertowski and Jacob Koehler, spoke at the event about what it means to have Jagger as their new teammate.
"We know that Jagger is going to make a huge impact on our team," Jacob told the group assembled for the Draft Day announcement. "As a team, we want to help him with everything he needs, but we know that he's going to make a huge impact on our lives. Something we say all the time is 'play for your team, work hard for your teammates.' To have him as one of our teammates just magnifies that statement."
Jagger attended the Eagles' home opener last Wednesday and was introduced as a member of the Eagles' starting lineup.
"We are so excited to have Jagger be our newest teammate," said Justin. "We're glad he's a part of our team. The impact he'll make on us is much bigger than soccer."
Head coach Oliver Slawson echoed those sentiments as he talked about what Jagger will mean to the program.
"We're adding a new dimension to who we are as a program," said Slawson. "Jagger is going to help us on the field. There are going to be times in games during the year where we're evenly matched…and Jagger will show us that extra bit of inspiration with that fight that he brings every day. When we're feeling fatigued, we'll know there are greater challenges out there. We want to win and play well and Jagger gives us that inspiration to fight for a bigger cause."
"Every single day after practice and after a game, we'll get into a huddle and we'll say 'family on three," said Jacob. "We don't say team, we don't say Ashland, we don't say Eagles. We say family, because that's the love we have for each other. To have Jagger join our family, we're unbelievably excited."
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