Submitted photo From left to right, North Iowa Area Community College head coach Gannon Harsma and New Ulm senior Brennan Shaver pose for a photo after Shaver signed a letter of commitment to play for NIACC this fall.

NEW ULM — New Ulm High School senior forward Brennan Shaver will be a rare breed this coming fall as he continues his soccer career at the collegiate level.

Shaver recently signed a letter of commitment to play soccer for the North Iowa Area Community College Trojans. NIACC competes in the National Junior College Athletic Association and is located in Mason City, Iowa.

And while most players on his new team are from Europe and South America, Shaver becomes one of few United States players on scholarship.

Last year’s Trojans squad featured no seniors or juniors, and just eight of the team’s 21 players played in U.S. high schools.

“I think it’ll be a great opportunity,” Shaver said. “I never really thought I’d get this chance. Of course I tried for it, but you never really are sure. I knew I wanted to go to college, but just being able to do the sport I love and being able to get my schooling done and maybe go on after that is a super cool feeling.”

Shaver’s college soccer dreams began during his freshman year at New Ulm after he began to take the sport more seriously.

“I played soccer since I was probably 6 years old, but I didn’t take it seriously until high school,” Shaver said. “I played other sports leading up to it, and then my freshman year, I quit everything else and just started doing soccer year round up until now.”

With teammates from Spain, Italy, Chile and Venezuela, Shaver will get the chance to learn new things with his new club.

“I think it’ll be amazing,” Shaver said. “I think it’ll almost be better than having U.S. teammates. I think being able to be around people that have lived a completely different lifestyle and maybe learn different languages and cultures will be a super cool learning experience.”

Shaver will add to an already-young squad with a relatively new head coach at NIACC in Gannon Harsma, who finished his first season as coach this past fall.

“I think he’s a great guy,” Shaver said of Harsma. “Personally, he was one of the leading factors for going there. I had a couple of other colleges I could have gone to in Iowa, but on my first visit I met him and he’s just a super likable, competitive [coach]. You can tell he wants you to be a better person in soccer but also outside of soccer. I did a couple of training [sessions] with a couple of the guys [on the team], and they’re just super friendly, super nice, want to help you in pretty much every way they can in soccer and everything. I think it’ll be amazing, to say the least.”

Last season, the Trojans finished 3-8-3 overall.

Shaver finished his final season for the Eagles this past fall as a three-year letter winner. In 15 games with the Eagles this past season, Shaver scored 15 goals and added 10 assists.

He also played for New Ulm United and Tonka United Soccer Clubs.