Claimed:A Strong Troubled Young Man - The Story of Casper Salomon [Final 10/10]

[Wilson 25]

Name : Casper Salomon

Position : Right Wing

Age : 17

Height : 6'3

Weight : 190lbs

Handness : Left

Hometown : Kessel, Netherlands

 

A Strong Troubled Young Man - The Story of Casper Salomon

 

 

Childhood

 

            Casper Salomon was born in 1998 in The Netherlands in a small town called Kessel. Casper was the first born to his young parents, his father Bruno and mother Matilda. Bruno Salomon made his living as a professional soccer player in his homeland of the Netherlands. He played for a number of top flight clubs in the Eredivisie, which is the top tier league in the country. Bruno was a goal-scoring winger who played for Vitesse, Feyenoord, and Ajax. Bruno also won a league title with Feyenoord in 1999 and brought young Casper out onto the pitch to celebrate with the team when he was just a year old.

 

 

Casper’s father Bruno on the right

 

            Casper grew up as a small child and didn’t even hit 100 pounds until he was almost 13. Salomon did grow up as a competitive athlete however. Twice he was scouted to try out for the U-12 National Soccer team. Casper played a fullback in soccer however which is quite the opposite of the way in which he plays hockey. Salomon was however always a very aggressive child and often got into arguments and sometimes even fights with his classmates causing him to be suspended numerous times but luckily he was able to avoid expulsion.

 

            Casper is the oldest of his father with two younger brothers. Bruno Jr. is 12 while Hendriks is just 2 years old. Bruno Jr. is a top rated prospect in soccer and has been involved with the youth academy for PSV Eindhoven since he was 8 years old. Bruno has followed in his brothers foot steps to a point and has also been heavily involved in the National team picture for the Netherlands, having been named to the U-12 team 4 times and also captaining the team in the U-12 2012 World Cup in which the squad finished in 3^rd place.

 

Bruno Jr. playing for the Eindhoven youth side

 

            Casper grew up playing in the Dutch minor hockey league from the time he was 5 until 12. Salomon broke numerous scoring records including scoring 267 goals in a single season in his last season in the Netherlands. Due to his high level of success however he also received a lot of criticism and backlash from opponents and even team mates and especially from rival parents for being a show off. Reaching this level of success also had Casper playing across the continent of Europe and travelling to places such as Ukraine and Poland. Here, Casper experienced a lot of racist remarks and almost forced him to quit playing competitive sports entirely. However, due to help from his family and friends Casper carried with his career as many scouts and his coaches encouraged Casper to take his talents elsewhere.

 

A young Salomon poses for the camera

 

Teenage Years

 

            In 2010, the entire family moved to Malmo, Sweden so Casper could carry on his dream of playing professional hockey. Salomon was much more at home here and made friends easily without much trouble in the schooling system. It was thought his behavioral issues had comes to an end. He played in Sweden for 3 seasons before receiving a full scholarship to the Helsinki Prepatory Academy in Finland.

 

In Finland, Salomon continued his torrid scoring pace in his first season. In 32 games for Helsinki Academy he netted 53 goals and 29 assists to lead the school to their first National Preparatory League title in almost two decades. Not to mention by this point in his physical development, Casper had sprung up 8 inches to clock in at 6’1’’ and weighed a sizeable 170lbs for someone of just 15 years of age.

 

 Unfortunately tragedy struck for the Salomon family. At the beginning of the next season Casper’s father, Bruno Sr. was killed in an automobile accident caused by a drunk driver back in Kessel. Casper and his family were devastated by the news as Bruno Sr. was truly the rock of the family. The whole country mourned together as a beloved soccer star had passed due to the stupidity of man.

 

Following this accident Casper returned home to be with his family, dropping out of the academy and stopped playing hockey entirely. His poor behavior returned once he was attending regular high school back at home and he got in many fights. After the 4^th fight he was expelled from school and had limited options. Luckily, he received a visit from his head coach at Helsinki, Jarmo Kaskelainen as well as his best friend and team mate at the academy, Maxim Doskov. Under the urgence of the situation and the support he received from his family and old team mates at Helsinki Academy, Casper returned to Finland to play out the last of the season.

 

Despite missing the first half of the season, Salomon returned to play in the final 15 regular season games and scored 22 goals and 19 assists however he really put his mark on the league when the play offs came around. In the 12 play off games Helsinki played Casper Salomon netted 29 goals and 14 assists for a whopping 43 points. Needless to say, led by Salomon, Helsinki was successful in winning back to back league title for the first time in school history.

 

Salomon playing in the Finnish Preparatory League

 

Leading up to the VHL

Salomon has been around the block in terms of where he was played his hockey and it doesn’t stop here. Since the end of his grade 11 year Salomon moved to the New England area and has been training with the New England Patriot’s athletic staff to put himself in peak physical condition.

 

Casper Salomon working out with Patriots Training Staff

 

Casper has been a bit of a loner for his whole life due to his behavioral issues and selfish attitude he has had while playing sports. Coupled with the hardship of losing his father he is certainly a very mentally strong young man. As he moves forward with his career there is no doubt in anyone’s mind whether or not he will have the drive to do so. However, there is a chance that though he won’t be giving up on his dream if he pushes people the wrong way, they may end up giving up on him.

Edited March 7, 2015 by Wilson

[DollarAndADream 3,356]

Overview: 5/5 - Great write-up and it was a joy to read. I look forward to your career in the VHL.

 

Grammar: 3/3 - Not much to note here, which is great for 1000 words.

 

"had comes to an end." - had come to an end

"winning back to back league title" - back to back league titles

"where he was played his hockey" - where he has played his hockey

 

Presentation: 1/1 - Everything that was asked for is there.

 

Over 1000 Words? 1/1

 

Overall: 10/10

[CowboyinAmerica 2,889]

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