{"id":1591,"date":"2015-03-26T00:43:49","date_gmt":"2015-03-26T00:43:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sportspaper.org\/?p=1591"},"modified":"2015-03-26T00:44:00","modified_gmt":"2015-03-26T00:44:00","slug":"kitsap-pumas-add-athletic-chimdum-mez-to-their-roster","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.sportspaper.org\/?p=1591","title":{"rendered":"Kitsap Pumas add athletic Chimdum Mez to their roster"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Chimdum\"<\/a><\/p>\n

CHIMDUM MEZ<\/p>\n

By Julie Diefendorf<\/p>\n

Special To The Sports Paper<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Kitsap Pumas continued to\u00a0add to their already talented roster by signing Chimdum Mez, a six-foot-four, 210-pound forward from California.<\/p>\n

Mez, who was born and raised in Sacramento, California, developed an interest in the game of\u00a0soccer from an early age. However, his elite athletic ability made him a prime target for coaches\u00a0of all sports, not just soccer.<\/p>\n

\u201cI started playing soccer when I was about seven years old,\u201d\u00a0Mez recalled.\u00a0\u201cIt was just for a\u00a0recreational team that my dad helped coach but I always enjoyed it even from that young age.\u00a0After that I sort of got away from the game for a few years and mostly just played basketball.\u201d<\/p>\n

However when one of his old coaches contacted him about the possibility of playing for his club\u00a0team, Elk Grove Everton, Mez decided to give soccer another go.<\/p>\n

\u201cSoccer always had this allure for me,\u201d Mez said.\u00a0\u201cSo when one of my old coaches contacted me\u00a0about the option of playing club ball I didn\u2019t hesitate getting back into it. Even though I was one\u00a0of the worst guys at first, before long it started clicking for me and that\u2019s when I realized that\u00a0soccer was what I really wanted to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Following his last season with Elk Grove, Mez took a chance and attended the<\/p>\n

Sacramento State\u00a0ID Camp where his outstanding play resulted in an invitation to the Hornets\u2019 preseason.<\/p>\n

\u201cSacramento State was the local college which made it a really easy option to pursue,\u201d\u00a0Mez said.\u00a0\u201cAt first I was kind of skeptical of staying so close to home, but once I was there I knew it would\u00a0be a valuable experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t easy at first. After getting on the team, Mez was later cut from the squad. While most athletes would\u00a0crumble under the disappointment of being cut mid-season, Mez only used that adversity to fuel\u00a0his work ethic and dedication to his game.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have always been a really athletic kid but I didn\u2019t have the best feet when I first got to college,\u201d\u00a0Mez recalled.\u00a0\u201cBut when I got cut that really put a chip on my shoulder. Ever since then I had\u00a0something to prove and that really tested my love for the game and willingness to work hard.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mez wasted no time in doing what it took to get back on track and was not only added to the team just that following spring, but was even awarded a scholarship as well.<\/p>\n

Mez\u2019s hard work and dedication truly began to pay off his senior season when he scored a team high seven goals. His outstanding play earned him both offensive player of the week accolades\u00a0and a Big West All-Conference first team nomination. In total, Mez had 10 career goal (six of\u00a0which were game winners) and four career assists while at Sacramento State.<\/p>\n

In addition to his time at the collegiate level, Mez has also spent two seasons in the Premier Development League (PDL) playing\u00a0for the Golden State Misioneros of the Southwest Division.<\/p>\n

After his standout senior season at Sacramento State where he led his team in scoring and tied\u00a0for 24th in the entire NCAA for game-winning goals, Mez was taken in the fourth round of the\u00a0Major League Soccer Draft by the San Jose Earthquakes.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was no better feeling than seeing my name get called in the draft,\u201d\u00a0Mez said.\u00a0\u201cInstantly my phone was going crazy from hundreds of texts, messages, phone calls, and social\u00a0media notifications. All that hard work I put in finally felt worth it.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, Mez was unfortunately unable to sign with the Earthquakes after competing in their\u00a0preseason training camp.<\/p>\n

“Not getting signed was a different story,\u201d\u00a0Mez said.\u00a0\u201cIt sucked having to call my family and\u00a0friends and let them know that I wouldn\u2019t be getting signed, but I have always been faced with\u00a0adversity so I knew this was just a temporary road block and that everything would come\u00a0together as long as I continued to work hard.\u201d<\/p>\n

After failing to sign with the Earthquakes, Mez began looking for the next best environment to\u00a0continue his playing career while also developing his skill set.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have known about the Pumas organization from my own research, but after I talked with Coach\u00a0(Cameron) MacDonald I knew Kitsap would be the perfect spot for me,\u201d\u00a0said Mez.\u00a0\u201cI’ve heard he is\u00a0a really\u00a0great coach and I think with his guidance I will continue to develop to the level I need to be at.\u201d<\/p>\n

MacDonald agreed that this would be a great next step for\u00a0Mez at this point in his development.<\/p>\n

\u201cChimdum is a guy who has been on the radar for a while now,\u201d said MacDonald. \u201cSpeaking with guys who have scouted him recently\u00a0it seemed like the Pumas would be\u00a0good fit for him this year. He’s a big boy, that\u2019s for sure, but he\u00a0is able to bring others in to play and his movement off the ball is improving. I think it will be a good summer for him.\u00a0\u201d<\/p>\n

Although Mez has faced a lot of adversity so far in his pursuit of his dream, he has nothing but\u00a0excitement for this next step and will not allow that adversity to hold him back.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy past experiences have taught me to be an incredibly hard-working player,\u201d Mez said.\u00a0\u201cI want\u00a0to be the guy to set the tone for work rate, and I am so excited to play in a professional\u00a0environment. It is going to be great learning and getting better every single day. I am just\u00a0thankful that Kitsap believes in me. I believe this club can do big things and I am ready to put the\u00a0work in to make that happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

CHIMDUM MEZ By Julie Diefendorf Special To The Sports Paper     The Kitsap Pumas continued to\u00a0add to their already…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1592,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1591","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-top-stories","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.sportspaper.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1591","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.sportspaper.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.sportspaper.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.sportspaper.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.sportspaper.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1591"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.sportspaper.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1591\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1593,"href":"http:\/\/www.sportspaper.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1591\/revisions\/1593"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.sportspaper.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1592"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.sportspaper.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1591"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.sportspaper.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1591"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.sportspaper.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1591"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}