FAIRFAX, Va. – On Sunday,
Steffen Kraus will live out a childhood dream.
Kraus will make his professional soccer debut with Karlslunds IF in Sweden in the season opener. The former George Mason goalkeeper recently signed a contract with the Swedish Division Two club in Örebro, Sweden.
The 24-year-old from Stuttgart, Germany started 61 games in goal for the Patriots over the last four years, with his collegiate career wrapping up last fall. The 6-foot-3, 192-pounder ranks sixth in program history in saves (216), shutouts (18) and minutes played (5,505).
As a freshman in 2013, he was named a Third Team NSCAA All-American and tabbed the Atlantic 10 Conference Rookie of the Year. He started all 21 games, allowing just 16 goals for an incredible A-10 leading 0.71 goals against average. He also led the conference with nine shutouts.
He played every minute in goal that season and was instrumental in helping the Patriots win the A-10 Tournament championship during their first year in the league. He came up big in the net against William & Mary in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament. He made eight saves and stopped two penalty kicks to help the Patriots advance to the second round against New Mexico.
Kraus, who also earned All-Atlantic 10 honors and All-Midwest accolades during his career, recently corresponded with GoMason.com. He discussed the process of getting signed by Karlslunds IF, adjusting to life in Sweden and his time as a student-athlete at George Mason.
What was that feeling like, when Karlslunds IF offered you a spot on their roster?
It was great, I got called over to Sweden for a tryout and I was really uncertain of the duration of the tryout. They told me they needed a goalkeeper, but I knew they had some other keepers trying out before me. I really wasn't sure what to expect. After I had my first training session, I had a pretty good feeling. Two sessions would follow before I'd sign a contract. When they offered me a contract, obviously I was really happy, but I also knew that I came really prepared and I practiced well. So in a way I knew that I earned this, too.
How satisfying is it to get this chance to play professionally?
It definitely is a childhood dream coming true. That's what I've wanted since I was like three years old. Now I've done my first step, but I'll also stay hungry four more and I'm looking forward to the season and what will come after it.
When does the season start?
We have our season opener this Sunday, with a huge derby against our biggest rivals. So that should be a great game to get the season started.
Explain the process if you can. After the season ended, what was your schedule like - did you send out video, do private workouts for coaches and teams? Did the Karlslunds coaches see you at a combine?
After the season ended I started signing up for a couple of combines. Every other weekend I went somewhere for a combine or an open tryout. Obviously, I had to train during the week to stay sharp, so I only took five days off after the season ended. Over winter break I only went home for five days. A couple of people at Mason were a big help for me during that time. Every morning, I had a personal workout with our strength and conditioning coach John Delgado. After that I would usually eat a big breakfast, hang out for a couple of hours and then meet up with some of the boys to go out and train on our own.
For a soccer player, this is usually an extremely hard time, staying in shape with no organized training, but we made it work really well. Mason also helped me create a highlight tape of myself which I put on YouTube (
watch here). Definitely worth checking out. Haha. The first combine I went to turned out to be the one that set me up with the opportunity at Karlslund. It was the PSC combine in D.C. I played there for three days. The owners of the company liked me but didn't have anything at that time for me. However they promised me to get back to me in February, when preseason kin Sweden starts. It turned out that a scout of Karlslund is good friends with the owners of PSC. He asked them for a goalkeeper and they referred me for the job.
Now that you've signed, what are you goals heading into the season?
I think we have a pretty good team and we should be able to fight for promotion. I'm not sure about the quality of the other teams in our division, but I believe in us. Personally, I want to keep as many clean sheets as possible to help the team achieving this big goal promotion.
How do you like living in Sweden? Is it nice to be back closer to your home country of Germany?
It definitely is nice to be a little closer to Germany. There's no time difference anymore, so this makes communicating with my family much easier. The lifestyle here in Sweden is really relaxed compared to the U.S. or Germany. The best part of Sweden I still haven't seen – mid-summer, when the sun shines 17 hours a day. Basically anything is done outside. Other than that, I really had to get used to the cold temperatures in February and the language is pretty hard, even though it is supposed to be close to German, which I do not see – at all.
How did your experience at George Mason attribute to you reaching this point? How did the coaching staff contribute in your growth as a player?
Four years is a really long time and in those for years, I experienced a lot. I learned a lot about my body and myself. The incredible work ethic was one of the few things I heard about the U.S., before I came to Mason. Now that I can look back at my college career, I have to say that I met some people who really influenced me in a positive way and I took this work ethic into my repertoire. During my four years, I always tried to surround myself with positive people, who have similar goals in life like me. College became home for me and I formed deep friendships here and grew as a player and, even more importantly, as a person. The coaching staff saw me through all my faces here at Mason and definitely helped me a lot. From coming here and having no idea about anything, to winning an Atlantic 10 championship, to my injury, to good and bad games. They were always there and they were always able to push me, in order to make sure I'd be the best version of myself.
How much did you mature in your four years at George Mason – on the field and off the field?
Tremendously. As I said, four years is a long time and college is a great experience. All the people I met during my time at Mason shaped me in their own way – some more, some less. There are a lot of challenges going through college, especially as a foreigner. In the end, I mastered most or at least some of them. An example for that would be mid-terms during the season. College taught me a lot about myself and I'm extremely happy that I committed to Mason, because it gave me back so much. I definitely won't forget the great time I had here on and off the field.
